


The Mare in the Warp

by Wendy_Gowak



Category: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Warhammer 40.000
Genre: Action/Adventure, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Dark, Gen, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-14
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-05-01 14:03:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 61,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5208572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wendy_Gowak/pseuds/Wendy_Gowak
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is the 41st Millenium and the Empress Celestia watch on a Imperium in perpetual war.</p><p>Twilight Sparkle, one of her most faithful Equustode stumbles upon a prophecy that could change the fate of the whole galaxy. Yet despite her warnings, she is sent to supervise a backwater planet defences and deal with insufferable Spacemares.</p><p>And things only get more complicated as time goes.</p><p>Twilight will have to brave the odds to protect the Imperium from a war that would tear it apart and from an enemy that bear ten thousands years of  wrath and rancour. But can even an Equustode face such odds?</p><p>An alternate universe/ crossover of MLP and Warhammer 40k.</p><p>Mature because of heresy, gruesome death and lots of blood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 41st Millenium

**THE MARE IN THE WARP**

  
**It is the 41st millennium.**  
  
**For more than a hundred centuries, the Empress has watched upon the pony Imperium from the throne of Canterlot. She is the master of ponykind by divine essence and the mistress of a million worlds by the might of her inexhaustible armies. She is a living goddess carried by both magic and Dark Age technology. Every day, thousands give their life to preserve the power of the almighty Empress.**  
  
**Yet even through her glory, she must be ever vigilant. Mighty battle fleets cross the daemon-infested miasma of the warp, the only route between distant stars, their way lit by the Astronomican, the psychic manifestation of the Empress' will. Vast armies give battle in her name on uncounted worlds. Greatest among her soldiers are the Adeptus Horsetartes, the Spacemares, bio-engineered super-warriors. Their comrades in arms are legions: the Legio Equustode, personal body guards and disciples of the Empress, the Imperial Guard and countless planetary defence forces, the ever vigilant Inquisition and the tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanequus to name only a few. But for all their multitudes, they are barely enough to hold off the ever-present threat from aliens, heretics, mutants - and worse.**  
  
**To be a pony in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. To live on the verge of tyranny in hope of a never coming better future. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of magic and harmony, for so much has been forgotten, never to be re-learned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only the promise of more wars and the laughter of thirsting gods.**


	2. Part One - Prologue

**Planet Canterlot, third planet of the Equis System, capital of the Pony Imperium**  
**Imperial Palace surroundings, near the Adeptus Equustodes barracks**

  
The streets of Canterlot were busy as always. Even this close to the imperial palace, there were still thousands of citizens trying to have an audience with the Empress, trying (and more often than not, failing) to get passed the Administratum army of clerks and bureaucrats. Yet Spike knew that it could be far worse. In other planets, they were hundreds of millions. And he had seen the outskirts of the imperial city. Scary how a line could become a town... A shiver went through his spine at the thought. He quickly dismissed it and focused on the task at hand. Lady Twilight had summoned him... and he had to pay a visit to a friend. The dragon kept going, lost in his thoughts, closing on his destination.

  
The Equustodes quarters where somewhat out of place in the great imperial city. Amidst the exuberant and richly decorated temples and offices, the small functional barrack looked almost bare; despite its golden walls and the statues of heroes of forgotten wars kneeling before their glorious mistress, delimiting the outer court in front of the entrance. But its residents knew better. They were the chosen children of the Empress, created for and devoted to her protection. Those four heavily defended walls delimited a sacred ground, as sacred as any temple in the galaxy. They were Equustodes, the Empress champions and protectors, they earned it by birthright and the blood spilled on the battlefield. This title and what it encompassed carried more weight than gold and was as sacred as any relic, and they were proud of it. No sculptor, no architect would ever be good enough to put it into a building or a statue, no matter how many time they had tried.

  
The interior of the building was as martial as one could expect. Two guards stood at each doors, unmoving and threatening, living statues in stature and posture. Dozens of the elite warriors lived here, whenever the Princess didn't need their services, should it be in the Palace or around the expanding Imperium, and every second of their time, save for the few hours they occasionally needed to sleep or eat, were dedicated to make them better, worthier, through extensive martial training or meditation and mental strengthening, seeking to hone their already impressive martial skills and willpower.

  
Excellence is not enough when perfection is expected.

  
Twilight Sparkle believed firmly in those principles, but was not contempt with them. She understood the value of training, she did her share with compliance and enthusiasm, but it was still not enough. Something in her ached for knowledge and she could never resist the urge to consult the immense library, deep under the building, holding some of the most hidden secrets of the Imperium. The time her kin spent bonding and improving their mutual experience, she spent between bookshelves, learning about the early age of the Imperium, on the few secrets of the Warp that she could safely learn, on the entities that reigned on the fringe of the galaxy... or sometime outside of it. And today, the genetically enhanced mare had found the opportunity to do more than one at once.

  
The book in her hooves was ancient, antediluvian even. Its covers were bare at the exception of the front, decorated with a silver unicorn sigil. Its content was so old most of the informations inside would have been deemed heretical should have them been written this millennium. Yet the data were too valuable for Twilight to dismiss. What she had found a few hours ago was an antique and original historical record from the Early Imperium... and most of all, an interesting one. Too often the ones available were old Administratum records with little to no interest. This one was an incredibly rare and interesting exception. It was a report of various crisis having affected the Canterlot system itself with an heavy emphasis on one particular event : the Nightmare Night crisis.

  
Twilight knew the legends. It was said that in the last days of the Great Heresy, the Warmistress had a deadly fight with the Empress which ended with her victory upon the traitor. It was good enough for the common pony, to keep them hopeful and productive while reminding them the power of the throne, but to anyone having faced the force of Chaos first hoof, it was just a necessary propaganda. This original just confirmed the suspicions she never dared to express aloud. However, the real story was more interesting than she would have believed. Military minds of the highest levels had tried to outsmart each other in battles spreading across entire sectors, armies had been used in the most clever ways to achieve victories over the rebels, planets had been sacrificed to ensure the security of other systems.... Even with the crude summary of the report, there was much to learn. Something however had temporarily managed to top it all. The end of the war was shrouded in mystery, there was few people able to write detailed and precise recollection of the facts. And even when it was not the case, most informations had been lost or classified. This book however, despite its concise nature, contained great details of the end of the crisis and they were quite intriguing. In the report, the Empress had used a powerful weapon to get rid of the Heretics assaulting the planet, including the Warmistress : the Elements of Harmony. Yet, there was no mention of such a weapon in any books of her knowing (which covered a lot of books). The fact that such an asset would go forgotten was troubling.

  
Needless to say, she had been looking for any clues about it in hope of finding some answers. As hours piled in she had started to form some good hypothesises. All she needed now was more sources and data to go on.  
Steps on the stone floor interrupted her train of thoughts. She did not need to check to know to whom they belonged ; they were obviously footsteps and that tended to eliminate most of possibilities; but she did it anyway. As expected a small purple and green dragon, wearing the grey and black meditation robe, indicative of his serf status, stood next to her, an inquisitive look on his face.

  
"Right in time, Spike," started the unicorn, returning to her books. "I need you to fetch some books for me..."

 

"Huh... sure, Twilight, -" Spike tiptoed a moment before he dared to continue is sentence. "- right after we go to Moon Dancer funerals right?"

  
"Oh Spike don't be silly!" she dismissed absent-mindedly. "We don't have time for this sort of thing. Now could you find me a copy of Predictions and Prophecies? Also the books related to the legend of the Mare in the Warp please?"

  
"The Mare in the Warp?" he answered, his body moving on his own to obey his mistress. "But that's just a guardpony's scare story..."

  
"I do not think so. Not anymore anyway. I have a feeling there's more to the legend than we were led to believe..."

  
Spike opened his mouth to retort, then resigned himself with a sigh. There was no talking to Twilight when she was in that mood. The dragon serf quickly disappeared between the shelves. "I'll see you later Moon Dancer," he thought with a hint of guilt. "It's not like you're going anywhere anyway..."

  
Twilight returned to her reading and hypothesises. She was on the verge of a breakthrough, she just knew it.

~o~  
A few days later.  
~o~

 

One would think finding the date, or at least a very close approximation, of a very rare incoming astronomic event based on a few legends and poorly dated historical events would be a difficult task. Let alone discovering the existence of said event based on a few myths and prophecies. But one would not have access to an imperial library, nor an extensive memory on everything book-related driven by an extraordinary focus. Thus it was not surprising that it only took a few days for Twilight to find the answers she was looking for. They were not reassuring.

  
"Spike?" she called, "Write a message to the Throne. Use my accreditation codes."

  
The dragon nodded and took a antique piece of velum and a quill out of his uniform.

  
_Beloved Empress,_

  
_Please forgive my boldness, but my researches in ancient lores, warp magic and historical battles have led me to believe that we're on the brink of a catastrophe._  
_If my calculations are correct, the Warmistress and part of her armies that were previously defeated and exiled in the Warp could (and I have very good reason to think that they indeed should) come back in a matter of weeks, if not days._  
_I humbly suggest that the highest defence protocols should be put into place as quickly as possible._  
_I eagerly await your orders._

  
_Your faithful Equustode,_  
_Twilight Sparkle._

  
After a quick check of her serf work, she nodded in approval and let him send the letter through his magic.

  
"Are you sure this is okay?" the dragon asked.

  
"Of course," she affirmed with unwavering confidence. "In all my years of service, I've never done anything but do my best for the Empress. I've been her most loyal citizen, guard and student. She know I wouldn't send her such a note without reason. She will consider my words."

  
She had no sooner finished her sentence than a big, rolled up sealed parchment blurted out of Spike's mouth in a green flame. A knowing grin draw itself on the mare face. The dragon took the letter, and with his Lady approval, unsealed it and begin its lecture.

  
_**TO : EQUUSTODE TWILIGHT SPARKLE** _  
_**FROM : THRONE OF CANTERLOT** _

  
_**YOUR MESSAGE WAS RECEIVED AND ACKNOWLEDGED BY THE EMPRESS. AS USUAL, YOUR DILIGENCE AND THOROUGHNESS DOES YOU CREDIT, AND THE EMPRESS GREATLY VALUE THE INFORMATIONS YOU BROUGHT AND THE EFFORTS NEEDED TO PUT THEM TOGETHER. SHE WILL PONDER UPON IT AND ACT ACCORDINGLY IN TIME.** _  
_**HOWEVER, THERE ARE SOME CONCERNS ABOUT THE TIME YOU SPEND IN THE LIBRARY AND THE TOMES YOU HAVE CONSULTED. YOU ARE ASKED TO RETHINK THE WAY YOU SPEND YOUR TIME. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER; GUARD IT WELL.** _  
_**AS A REWARD FOR YOUR DEDICATION NEVERTHELESS, YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN TO CHECK THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE DEFENCE SYSTEM OF PV-01, IN THE PONYVILLE SYSTEM. MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE EFFICIENT. A LIST OF THE PONY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE PLANETARY DEFENCE WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU PRIOR TO DEPARTURE, IN EIGHTEEN HOURS. FOR THE DURATION OF YOUR MISSION, YOU WILL COLLABORATE WITH THEM AND ASSUME A POSITION OF LEADERSHIP IF NEED BE.** _

  
_**MAY THE EMPRESS LIGHT ALWAYS BE WITH YOU.** _  
_**SUCCESS IS COMMEMORATED; FAILURE MERELY REMEMBERED.** _

 

There was a minute of uncomfortable silence.

  
"Well at least she considered your words..." he tried, in a comforting tone.

  
Twilight grunted half-heartedly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "The Empress is the beginning and the end of my duty and of my existence. Just as I was created by Her hooves and molded following Her will, so will I die at Her service following Her divine command."  
> \- Equustode Twilight Sparkle


	3. Part One - Chapter 01 - Ponyville

**Immaterium,  
** **Frigate _Spes Reliquus_**

In a small ship speeding through the Immaterium, a lavender Equustode was dissatisfied. And three enhanced combat serfs were paying for the euphemism.

Twilight ducked. A combat stick passed right above her head, barely an instant late. Her magic-wielded training staff whirled in response. The blunt point made a very satisfying sound as it connected with the mindless pony chin. Twilight caught a noise on her side. Another blow, aimed at her flank. The staff kept spinning, barely slowed. The combat mace was caught in the endless loop. The weapon flew away, soon followed by its user. Twilight turned to face her last opponent. Now alone to face the warmare, the last serf shifted to a more defensive stance. The staff kept going, now a purple blur surrounding its wielder.  Both fighter waited for the other to make the first move. Twilight sent a vicious feint, seemingly aiming at the hooves. The serf awkwardly avoided it, trying to kick the mare in the process.

_Gotcha._

Too fast to be seen, the grip around the shaft changed, with very efficient results. In a blink, the staff twisted, striking the serf on the flank, hard, pinning him mercilessly on the ground.

The combat had lasted less than a minute.

The weapon hovered slowly to Twilight side.  "Again," she demanded flatly. "Three hits this time, and raise the level to lethal."

 

As one, they stood up and took back their weapons. As they did not feel pain nor fatigue (whether or not it was fortunate was debatable), they would comply, or at least try to do so, until their bodies were utterly ruined. So up they stood, ready to serve again. As one, they readied themselves, weapons firmly held in their mouths, empty glares fixed the unmoving mare, looking for openings. As one, they slowly circled around their prey, using her blind spots to prepare their offensive. An eerie silence survived a few seconds in the training room.

And as one they attacked.

Each one aimed for vital spots, confining her movements. Raw magic flashed as Twilight teleported away from the sticks and flashed again when she reappeared behind one of her foes. The staff struck both hind limbs, making him fall before he could kick her, then, using his left leg as a pivot, she made the staff turn to break his left foreleg. The serf fell like a stringless puppet.

"One."

The two remaining serfs charged her, trying to submerge her with a vicious flurry of blows. Twilight used the reach of her staff to contain the assault, waiting for an opportunity to strike. She lured the serfs with increasingly subtle faints until one of them took the bait. Rushing into the opening she left in her guard, the stallion broke off to hit her leg, forcing his ally to change his pace. For a second the unity of her attackers was broken. That was enough for the unicorn. She quickly deflected the blow, and disappeared in a flash. The feinted readied himself for another attack from behind, kicking hard, in hope of touching, or even stopping the elusive opponent... but Twilight Sparkle didn't even bothered to do anything. She just let herself fall on the stallion from the ceiling where she had teleported. His back made a painful sound as she landed on him. Three blows wouldn't be needed.

"Two."

There was a quick movement behind the Spacemare, and she barely reacted in time to avoid to be hit. The remaining serf was using her last move against her. At such a close distance, her staff was of little help and as she stood on her fallen foe, she couldn't have a good hooving, making maneuvers delicate. Her opponent made sure of that. It was Codex tactic. She knew it by heart. Yet here she was, stick and hooves passing dangerously close, leaving her not time to concentrate for an elaborate spell such as teleportation. The unicorn was seriously rethinking some of her recent decisions...

 

 **~o~**  

 

"Come on, how hard can it be to find the training room?"

Spike was standing in front of an empty meditation room. So far, it has been the fifth. Twilight had sent him to the spaceship's armoury fetch her stuff and now he was lost. For a warpship, this vessel was small. Way smaller than the Equustodes quarters for instance. Quarters that Spike knew better than most of its residents. So how come he could get lost HERE?

"How many of these rooms are there?" he asked for the fourth time. The dragon closed the door, and went to the next one. "As they say, ten's the charm."

If the charm was another meditation room that is.

"Or eleven is, I suppose..." he sighed.

The sound of a resounding magic explosion stopped him as he was about to open his seventh meditation room. He had known Twilight long enough to recognise the sound of her magic, even in this fiery form.

"Yep! Eleven's the charm!" he said to himself as he ran toward the sound.

 

**~o~**

 

"Three" Twilight uttered between catching breath.

The three serfs were now laying in various places of the room, as far of the mare as the place permitted, in painful looking positions. Two of them would have to go under surgery to be able to serve again. The last one would probably be reaffected to more menial tasks. A pang of guilt struck the unicorn as the frustration partially left her body. The baseless violence was one thing (that she was not proud of), but carelessness was something she could not allow herself to fall into. Three serfs, even heavily enhanced ones, were not supposed to be a challenge. Not for her. Maybe she should really rethink the way she spent her time.

So lost she was in her self castigation that she didn't hear the Dragon enter the room.

"Gee! Someone was angry..." he said, carefully unloading his mistress golden artificer armour on a table in a corner of the room.

"I am not angry."

The dragon cocked an eyebrow. "If you say so," he answered wryly.

There was no use to lie to Spike. And to herself. "Okay. I may be a little dissatisfied with our current situation."

"Dissatisfied?" repeated the dragon with a glance to one of the combat serf.

"Okay, I'm frustrated!" she finally conceded. "This... this task is getting on my nerves!" - her hoof hit the metallic ground soundly - "We should be preparing for the return of the Warmistress, not supervising some isolated Spacemares in a forgotten sector!"

There. It was said. There was nothing more to add. Spike knew how much it should have shaken his Lady confidence and that there was nothing he could really do about it. But that didn't mean he shouldn't try. "Look on the bright side Twilight! You get full access to the library and the planetary archives. You will basically live there. You already have done most of your research, the rest can easily be done there."

The mare stayed silent a moment, lost in her thoughts. A mischievous grin slowly forming on her face "You know what, Spike? You're right."  

This was a reaction he had not foreseen."I am?"

"Absolutely!" Her mood way better all of sudden. "Once I have checked the defences of the place, I will have plenty of time to verify my hypothesises and prepare for the resurgence."

"Hum... what about the Spacemares you were supposed to command?"

"If I am in charge, then I can just ask them to stay there while I do something else." she calmly stated. "I have better things to do than chaperon a bunch of grunts."

Spike opened his mouth, looking for words... but a sudden change in the lighting indicated them that they were about to leave the Immaterium. Only a few hours separated them from their destination. The dragon shook his head and let the subject die. There was no talking to her when she was in this mood. At least she felt better about this mission.

"If you say so Twilight..." he sighed. "Since we're arriving soon, maybe I could help you don your armour?" he added, looking up to his Lady.

"I would like that very much Spike," she answer warmly.

 

**~o~**

 

As they left the Warp, a fully-armoured Twilight Sparkle had at last the opportunity to see the system for herself. It was small; one of the smallest of the sector in fact. Only two planets, PV-00 and PV-01, orbited the pale young red star. The first one, a bluish gas giant called PV-00, had nothing to offer. Its only noticeable feature was a heavy rocky satellite, a former planetoid of the system trapped in the gravitational pull of the giant, with an orbit almost perpendicular to the rotation of its planet. Said satellite was filled with jungles and a wild and untamed fauna that had resisted colonisation so far. Those familiar with the system poetically called it "the Everfree Forest", which was better than its official name, PV-00aCS01FPoV03.

PV-01, or simply Ponyville, since no other planet was worth stealing the title, was barely more interesting at first glance. It was a small canterlotian planet like there was billions in the galaxy, it was weakly populated, not really rich, except for the gems and precious stones that were abundant, and its military force, while sufficient for such a region, was not as impressive as its neighbours. PV-01 had one resource worth mentioning that made it valuable to the Empire. Despite its size and the apparently weak sun, it had a tremendous capacity to produce food. The ponies of the region produced roughly a third of the food of this part of the sector and with its close proximity to Canterlot and direct road toward it, it had become sort of a strategic asset.

War vessels often patrolled the area, and the Empress herself sometimes sent some of her mares to check on its defences. However, despite all this, the system was almost forgotten. The Imperium was looking toward the other end of the galaxy, and with centuries passing, the planet and its benefits had been progressively overlooked.

Of course, Twilight knew all this. There were entire shelves dedicated about this system in the imperial library, but she couldn't help but feel like the planet was not worth her time; and seeing it up close under the weak light of a pathetic sun only made it worse. Why was she here? As the bulky vessel pummelled its way through the thick atmosphere, the genetically-engineered mare couldn't help but think about it. Truth to be told, she had a hard time NOT to think about it. Why was she here? Did she upset the Empress by contacting her directly? This had never been a problem before... Not that she did it frequently. Did she accidentally touch a sensitive subject? Was the book and its stories of heretical nature? Had she been put in trial without her knowledge? Did her curiosity finally got the best of her? Maybe she should have sent the book directly to the Imperial Archivist to make sure she could access its content... What if it was written by Heretics to tempt the weak minded? Or worse, written by the Inquisition to test the faith of the closest guards of the Empress? Was it a test? And if so, had she failed it? She had to... this explained her situation. Or maybe she had to show how she could handle this kind of situation? Was it already too late for her, or had the struggle just begun?

"If only the Empress could give me guidance..." she thought as the vessel approached the planetary spaceport.

 

**~o~**

 

The administrative formalities took a precious amount of her time.

The planetary governor, a wheat-furred, grey-manned mare fatefully named Mayor Mare, insisted that a ceremony was in order. Twilight had to use even the Empress given authority to finally get rid of her.

"I hope it doesn't go like that all along," she sighed as she left the building, "I really want to end this..."

"Come on, my Lady!" cheered Spike. "You know how civilians are when they see us. I'm sure you'll feel better around other soldiers."

"I really hope you're right..."

"Here, let's go toward the barracks. The first pony we have to meet is responsible for the defences on the ground."

"Good. Let's not waste any more time."

With a small nudge of the head, Twilight indicated her escort, a very imposing pink stallion, to lead them to their destination. The soldier made a quick salute and began to lead Twilight and Spike to the barracks. They walked in the town in silence, the soldier only answering the attempts of communication with monosyllables, grunts and nods of acknowledgement and dismissal. Twilight didn't really care. In fact she preferred it that way; the lack of interaction let her think of ways to micro-manage her stay. Spike however was getting increasingly frustrated.

"Just tell your name already!" he asked angrily for the umpteenth time as for the umpteenth time, the soldier just pointed the roll number on his chest.

The sudden burst made Twilight break off her musing. She rolled her eyes as she intervened to help the dragon. "Come on soldier, just humour him," she asked calmly.

"Pain Keeper, Lady Sparkle," the guard said with a surprisingly soft voice.

"See, Spike? It wasn't that hard," she teased.

"That's easy to say when you're the genetically-engineered space pony with a power armour..."

"I think it was a simple sentence with quite basic intonations," she stated, her tone colder now.

"I am pretty sure that even an humble dragon Monitor could do it." The remark was as mocking as it was chastising.

Spike took it as a cue to keep quiet and Twilight made as if nothing happened. The Equustode's relation with her serf was closer than what was normally expected (some would even say "tolerated"). Still she had to remind him the position he was in, for both his sake and hers. She hated that she had to do that, but it was better than having the dragon lobotomised. Twilight glanced at Pain Keeper, checking his reaction, only to catch him staring at her and Spike. He quickly turn his glaze away once he realised he'd been seen. The guard said nothing of the little banter but Twilight caught him doing it quite a few time after that. Twilight was about to confront him about it, when he suddenly stopped.

"We have arrived," he said with a salute.

Twilight looked he the direction he faced to see a very military looking building. While not as imposing as the Equustodes quarters, the Planetary Defence Force garrison was very efficiently designed. Twilight had to admit this was a very impressive work. Heavy sets of walls; disposed to fend of attackers and force them out of cover; and an impressive array of auto-turrets protected the perimeter as ponies on guard duty completed the surveillance from the parapets. And that was only the outer layers. She was guessing heavy cannons, energy shields and lots more surprises inside. If the rest of the place was as heavily defended at the outside, her work would be done in a breath.

A smile illuminated Twilight's face. She turned around to thank the guard. "Thank you -" she began as she realised that her guide had disappeared "- Pain Keeper?". She looked aroung and saw nopony. "Pain Keeper? Have you seen him, Spike?" she asked.

"Nuh uh..." he dismissed.

"That's strange... I think we should investigate. Or at least mention it to the Intelligence ponies," she added when she remember her own schedule.

"Is this really worth it?"

"A suspicious mind is a healthy mind, Spike," chastised Twilight. "Don't forget it."

"I will not, my Lady," he said with a sly grin.

The unicorn rolled her eyes and allowed herself a smile. "Let's go Monitor, we are awaited."

 

**__________**

 

Planet Canterlot

Imperial Palace, Throne of Canterlot

Sat on a throne made of gold, lost technologies and spells long forbidden and forgotten, a goddess was lost into her thoughts. Around her, unicorns where channelling their powers into her, allowing her to effortlessly illuminate the Warp. Every minutes or so, one of them would die and another would be sent in their place. There was a time when this would have made her react. But a few weeks of this had desensitized her. Millennium had made the scene into even less than white noise and background images. More ponies died every seconds on countless battlefields to ensure the safety of her empire anyway.

Today however, the alicorn was particularly aloof. Thoughts of the past had came back to haunt her. Thoughts of her and her closest soldiers... friends... sisters in battle. Especially one. One that could once claim those titles more rightly than anypony.

"Warmistress... why?" she uttered in a breath. "Why?"

 

**~o~**

 

From her spot, Celestia could see her worlds burn. She had spread war upon countless planets for the sake of her empire, for the sake of ponykind and now said empire was torn apart because she could not contain the most efficient weapon she had.

The deep blue, star-maned alicorn stared at her with a space-cold stare. Nothing remained of the love she once had for "her Empress". Now only resent, contempt and hatred filled her soul, and they were all pointed toward the white alicorn.

"Why?" whispered Celestia.

"Don't you dare play ignorant with me Celestia," snarled the Warmistress. "You brought this on yourself."

"Why?" she repeated. The hurt was still in her voice as she spoke.

"Stop this charade, 'Empress', your time has come."

Two pink eyes slowly rose, leaving entire systems consummated by the flames of war, to stare into the the turquoise reptilian eyes of the Warmistress.

"Why?" she demanded. There was no more weakness in the voice.

There was a second of silence. For an instant, the Warmistress was once again in front of her Empress. The respect she once had... the admiration, the sheer devotion came back, like a balm on her crushed pride. But she was too far gone. The feeling only made the pain greater when it returned. It only fuelled her rage to even higher levels.

"YOU WANT TO MAKE ME BELIEVE YOU DON'T KNOW?!" she shrieked, powerful waves of energy cracking around her every couple of words. "YOU DARE? YOU BETRAYED US! YOU BETRAYED ME! ALL MY LIFE I SERVED YOU! I SERVED THE IMPERIUM NIGHTS AND DAYS! I GAVE MY LIFE FOR PONYKIND AND WHAT DO I GET? DISGRACE! SHAME! UNGRATEFULNESS! I WAS YOUR MOST LOYAL MARE! AND YOU BETRAYED ME! AND NOW YOU WILL FACE THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR ACTIONS!"

"I never betrayed you... I would never..."

"ENOUGH!" she interrupted. "I know now. You don't deserve to rule. I will do what you never could. I will conquer the galaxy in the name of the Old Gods and burn any mention of your name of History!"- The Warmistress paused, letting the words sink in. -"I. Will. Erase. You." She promised emphasising each word by kicking her hoof on the ground.

"Don't..." Celestia pleaded. "I do not want to kill you. Stop this folly. There is still a place for you in the Imperium. Stop this madness now!"

"You can't stop me. You're weak and a foal. Now die!"

 

 

**~o~**

 

The screams of a unicorn, consummate by their magic and the call of the Warp made the Empress snaps out of her daydream. Two Equustodes came to get rid of the fuming corpse while another brought their replacement. For a second, Celestia asked herself if her lack of focus caused this.

The thought died quicker than it had arisen. She didn't even care.

Millenniums around the dead would do that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "The enemies of the Empress fear many things.  
> They fear discovery, defeat, despair and death.  
> Yet there is one thing they fear above all others.  
> They fear the wrath of the Space Mares!"  
> \- Unknown


	4. Part One - Chapter 02 - The Spacemares

**PV-01**  
**DP Battallion barack**

 

Twilight explored the barrack with an appreciative look.

For such a small system, it was pretty well kept. The ponies looked ready, the defence was solid and the equipment, while not recent, was very efficiently used. It wasn't big but it was an impressive piece of work none the less.

"Remind me the name of the mare, Spike." she demanded.

"Responsible for the ground forces, Sergeant Applejack," he responded instantly.  

"Good. Let's find this Applejack."

They found her in the training ground. As a Spacemare, she was unmistakable. Her heavy stature, powerful musculature and sheer aura of strength easily set the orange soldier apart from her ponies. She was busy inspecting the disassembled part of a heavy bolter, oblivious to the Equustode. Twilight took a second to study her. Her long (and quite not Codex-conform Twilight noted internally) blond mane in a ponytail, held by a red (and still not Codex-conform) ribbon engraved with runes Twilight could not decipher but recognised as the symbols used by some of the Space Timberwolves. The same runes were present on her mark III greyish power armour and on her yellow shoulder plate and Twilight suspected that even more were hidden behind the myriad of honorary titles and decorations that adorned her attire. Curious, Twilight checked attentively the earth pony work, critically, silently testing her skill. The inspection last a few minutes before Applejack expertly reassembled the weapon. "Flawless," mentally acknowledged Twilight.

Her work finally done, the Spacemare finally acknowledged her visitors.

"Salutation."- Twilight put her hoof on her chest, -"I'm Equustode Twilight Sparkle. Sergeant Applejack I presume?"

The mare replied with the strong accent of the fringe worlds : "That I am. It's an honour to meet you," she said imitating the gesture. "The D.P. Battalions welcome you. How can I be of service Twilight Sparkle?"

"Thank you. I have been sent to inspect the planetary defence for the Empress. I was told you're in charge of the troops on the ground?"

"I sure am."

"Good. I will need a complete report on the state of the ground forces."

"Sure," she said as she attached the heavy weapon to its strap on her collar. "Just follow me Sugarcube."

Both Twilight and Spike stopped at the nickname. The dragon knew better than to laugh, but the face of his Lady at the present moment made it pretty tempting. Twilight knew that not all Spacemares lived by the Codex. As the elite force they were, Equustodes were not totally bind by it and even she, despite the fact that she knew every of its tenets by hearts, sometimes made exceptions. It was obvious Applejack was not one Codex-compliant Spacemare. But this?

Applejack seemed to notice that her guests didn't move and turned to face them. "Is something the matter?" she asked with concern.

"How did you call me?" asked Twilight with an undecipherable tone.

Realising what seemed to be the problem, Applejack smiled, trying to show she meant no ill. "I am sorry, it is an old habit," she explained. "Where it's from 'Sugarcube' is used for someone important and precious, both in rank and friendship. Since there is not a whole bunch of ranks above Equustode I figured it was okay. i'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable with it."

Twilight pondered about it a moment, then smiled. "It's fine. But I'd rather be called by my title."

"As you wish Equustode." she said, turning back.

 

**~o~**

 

Twilight left the officer mess with a weary sigh. This was definitely not what she had in mind when she asked for a report. The orange mare had insisted that she personally checked EVERY officer on her command and verify their skill individually. What should have taken an hour and almost no efforts had become a full day marathon. She would never had thought possible that such a mundane task would be that time-consuming.

"Who's next Spike?" she asked.

"Techmare Rarity," he responded right away. "She's a unicorn responsible for the automated defences and the maintenance of the armoury. -" Spike paused a moment, as he checked inside his conditioned brain for more information. "- She's usually in a lab under the barrack," he added with a smile.

"Thank you, Spike," she said softly.

Spike kept smiling and simply nodded.

 

**~o~**

 

Finding Rarity's laboratory had been easy. It was very conveniently located and extremely well disposed, making it easily navigable but hardly defensible, much to the Equustode's bother. The two visitors wandered through dark, empty rooms full of broken and repaired equipments without saying a word. Twilight couldn't help but notice that most of it had not been considered standard for centuries. Proper maintenance rites for such equipment were often lost. Or kept a secret by the Mechanequus, which was basically the same thing. Twilight quickly dismissed the thought. Unravelling the Mechanequus political struggles and its links to such a remote planet would likely take two lifetimes and she hardly had a few weeks before the Resurgence.

The Techmare was conveniently located in the centre of the place, in a small craft room, her attention focused on her work. From the back of her strange, slim, red power armour, four servo-arms equipped with various tools and claws were frenetically acting upon some cubic device Twilight could not identify. Flames and plasma flit around the artifact, making shadows dance in the room, creating unreal colours and strange patterns on the white fur of the unicorn. Sometimes, a spark would fly above her head, revealing curled locks of a purple mane trapped by a protective helmet.

Knowing better to interrupt an Astrotechnequus during her work, Twilight decided to wait and watch silently. She was about to make sure Spike would keep quiet too but a quick glance at her serf assured her it would not be necessary. The dragon was transfixed by the spectacle. Twilight smiled at the sight. She had seen this kind of behaviour in lesser ponies and, through she was above such matter, she could see it quite easily : There was more than simple admiration for the work in front of him.

At times like this one she remembered he was still so young... and the consequences of said youth in a galaxy at war. Her expression suddenly became cold and she nudged him to catch his attention.

"True Happiness stems only from Duty," she mouthed with a reproving scowl.

The dragon made a chastened face and snapped to attention, now watching his feet and avoiding any look in the general direction of Rarity. Twilight hoped she had dealt with the problem. Or at least made it tolerable for the times to come.

 

**~o~**

 

They didn't have to wait for too long, all things considered, but the silence had grown uncomfortable and both Twilight and Spike were happy to have an opportunity to break it. Twilight jumped on the first chance to make her presence know, waiting for Rarity make a pause from her work.

"Salutation Soror Astrotechnequus," she saluted, her hoof on her chest. "I am..."

Four servos greeted her before she could finish her sentence. Twilight body tensed as the mechanised arms came close to her, but she relaxed when she felt the tools delicately touch her armour. The Techmare turned slowly, her cybernetic enhancements still on the Equustode.

"Salutation Lady Equustode," she answered with a surprisingly refined tone. "Would you please follow me?"

"Hum... may I enquire where to?" Twilight asked uncomfortably, still surrounded by servos.

"Well, darling,"- Twilight cocked an eyebrow at the unusual nickname -"this room lack the necessary tools to ensure a full maintenance of your apparatus." Rarity replied.

"My appara... I'm sorry but I think you are mistaken. I am not here to check on my gear. I've been sent to check on you!"

"Nonsense." she countered. "I do not need any check up. Your armour, however, suffer several minor malfunctions that could very well become critical, I simply cannot let you go like that," she stated.

Still surrounded by servos, and unable find reasonable arguments against long due repairs, Twilight resigned herself to her fate. Spike followed the mares without a word, small hints of a smile on his face.

 

**~o~**

 

Soon, Twilight found herself in an ample meditation robe while Rarity worked in several parts of her plate at the same time. The Techmare filled the silence an extensive details of the base defence, mixed with questions about the Canterlot system and unexpected attempts of small talk.

Not willing to displease his Lady once more, Spike had chosen to wait outside. He wasn't sure about what happened just before, but he had made a mistake somehow. Maybe he was not worthy of watching Rarity works. He must have looked upon some deep Mechanequus secret while ogling... Or maybe his newly found, and rather sudden, admiration for the Techmare had made him neglect his duty somehow?

So lost he was in his musing that he didn't see the imposing figure slowly approaching until it was right on him. The irony wasn't lost to him.

"Tell me your allegiance dragonling," said a voice deeper than any mortal throat could produce.

 

**~o~**

 

It took hours to Twilight to take back her armour. Not that the repairs were complex. The truth was that Rarity kept trying to "improve" it. Once again, the Empress given authority had to be used to save several days of pointlessness. Yet another sigh escaped Twilight's muzzle as she left the workshop.

"Spike?" she asked. "Next mare please."

Only silence came to her demand. The lack of answer worried Twilight as she realised that her serf was nowhere in sight.

Her sense immediately examined the room as she looked for clues on the whereabouts of the dragon. She was soon reassured by the sound of his voice. He was apparently in the middle of a conversation. She couldn't hear correctly the person he was talking to however. Strange distortions on the voice that made it totally unintelligible once reverberated by the empty rooms and corridors. Yet she felt no threat from it. Reassured, Twilight walked calmly toward the voices. The place made it very easy for her to find her Monitor. He was at the other end of a corridor, calmly talking to a figure still hidden behind a corner. Judging by his respectful tone and the way he had to lift his head to looks at his interlocutor, Twilight deduced it must have been one of the Spacemares. Probably not Applejack judging by the difference of tone and register (the voice was way deeper, yet incredibly soft and its pace slower). The unicorn caught up with the dragon, eager to get another step closer to the completion of her mission (quite literally).

To say she was surprised to see who Spike was talking to was an understatement.

Through her extensive studies, Twilight had of course heard of Dreadnoughts; heroes revered during their life, deemed worthy enough to be given another chance to serve through the grave, literally. When the Equustodes where a more active force in the conquest of the galaxy, a few of them, such as the famous Sagittarius, had been reborn as such. But those times where long gone, and as the elite force of the Empress became more and more of a defence asset, such sights had been long forgotten for Twilight and her peers. But the tales lived on. And it was as impressive as she was in right to expect.

The sarcophagus was almost a metre taller than her and twice as large. Its form loosely reminding the one of a pony but made way bulkier by its reinforced adamantium plates. The hind legs were very powerfully built and as big as a regular pony. Twilight knew that it would permit the mare inside (or rather her remnants) to make an optimal use of the agile and powerful forelegs for an extended duration, making the machine a deadly close combat foe of the enemy of the Empress. Two powerful jet engines coupled with two folded adamantium wings revealed that she had been a pegasus. Several decorations and honour marks were spread all around its yellow paint while a few long pink banners hung from above her head all the way down to her "flank".

Noticing his mistress, Spike bowed respectfully in her direction, then turned back toward the Dreadnought.

"Lady Fluttershy, if I may introduce you to my mistress Lady Twilight?" he said.

"..." the vox buzzed shortly as the sarcophagus turned toward the unicorn and bowed sightly.

"Lady Twilight, this is Lady Fluttershy," announced Spike. "She's... well she's in charge of the genetics, infirmary, apothecarium and many other things."

"It's an honour," answered humbly Twilight.

Twilight tried to engage conversation with the Spacemare, eager to learn more about her. Unfortunately for her all tentative ended with the same empty buzzing sound. Spike was finally the one to rescue his Lady from the awkward one-sided discussion.

"If I may my Lady," he hinted "I remind you that we have to report to the Throne soon."

Taking her cue, Twilight nodded. "You're right Spike!" she affirmed. "Thanks for reminding me."

"Well we will leave you Lady Fluttershy," he said "My lady has a lot to do and we won't keep you from your maintenance routine. Thank you again for your report," he added while glancing at the unicorn. "May the Empress be with you."

"And with you, Monitor Spike," she said in her deep yet soft vox-produced voice.

And, after a nod toward Twilight, she was gone.

"That was weird..." coughed Twilight.

"Yeah, a guard passed and she did the exact same thing." informed Spike. "I think she only talked to me because I was a dragon... But on the bright side,"- a victorious grin appeared on his face -"I have your report!"

"Good job, Spike," she acknowledged with a smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." he said, his grin getting wider and warmer.

"How many mares left?"

"Just one."

Finding some remnant of courage in that perspective, Twilight braced herself.

"Let's go," she said.

 

**~o~**

 

Twilight grumbled as she left the barracks. The day had passed faster that she expected, or rather everything went slower than expected. The sun was slowly disappearing behind the horizon, the red-orange sky bleeding slowly from its fiery wound. The brightest stars started to shine, competing with the moving lights of the defence vessels and the imposing High Atmosphere Mobile Base floating above. In less than an hour, the streets would outshine them all, directing the working ponies toward their habitations and the rested one toward their working place, which would without a doubt gather a most unnecessary crowd around the Equustode, slowing her even more.

Hopefully, the last mare would be easier to handle, but somehow, she doubted it.

"Who's this last mare, Spike?" she asked tiredly.

"The last one is responsible for the air forces, Sergeant Rainbow Dash,"- something caught his attention above his mistress head and his voice got lower and lower as he continued until he completely stopped -"She should be in one of the aerial..."

The unicorn looked above her to see what distracted her Monitor. There was something in the sky. For a second, she thought it was an animal or a spaceship but she soon realised what it was and for a second she shared Spike's stupor. It was a pony. Falling out of the sky. Right on them. The enhanced sight of Twilight permitted her to discern a great deal of details of said fall. The dropping pegasus had a unique rainbow coloured mane cut short. Their cyan fur and black power armour appeared very distinctly on the dark red sky. Soon the sight became more precise and Twilight could see the huge bulk of a jetpack on her back. As the pony get closer, way too fast, Twilight's mind create a reasonable explanation for this most unlikely scenario. The poor pony must have suffer some sort of malfunction and was falling to their doom. Right on them. She didn't have the time to stop the fall, nor to raise a shield for Spike and she. Faster than she thought possible, she kicked the dragon away (somehow managing to control her strength so that she wouldn't hurt him) and braced herself for impact.

It never came. Instead she felt the temperature rise and fumes reach her nostrils. The noise of raging engines filled the air for a few seconds before shutting down. The silence that rose right after was deafening. Finally, Twilight rose her head again. The blue Spacemare fell on the ground just in front of her at the same time.

Twilight was at a loss for words from both anger and amazement.

"Sorry..." the pegasus said with a apologetic smile on her face. "I thought the area was clear. It's kind of hard to change my direction once launched. Are you okay?"

Finally getting back to her senses, Twilight tried to show displeasure as she asked : "What was that all about? Who are you?"

"The name's Rainbow Dash and that was my daily emergency intervention training routine," she said proudly.

"You do that daily?" Twilight answered, baffled.

"A mare's gotta stay sharp. 'Faith and training will kick heretics ass on the battlefield' or something like that."

"I think you mean "only faith in the Emperor and your training will save you on the battlefield"," she corrected. "Those are the words of Veteran Sergeant K..."

"Yeah! Exactly that!" the pegasus interrupted. "Who are you by the way?"

Exasperation threatened to overwhelm Twilight. She took a deep breath to regain her composure.

"I am Twilight Sparkle, Equustode on mission for the Empress," she announced. "I have been sent to check on the Spacemares in charge of the defence of this planet, including you. -" Twilight sighed "- But I guess it can wait tomorrow."

"Why wait? I can give you whatever information you need."

"I need extensive and precise information," Twilight explained with a lot of emphasis on "precise". "And I need them before I do my own dispatch to the throne tonight. So unless you can go fetch and get them back to me in less than an hour..."

"Exactly! Why wait?"

"You mean you have those information on you?" asked Twilight, surprised.

"Hum no but I can fetch them easily."

"Really?"

"Yeah, they're in Cloudsdale," she said, designing the defence base high above their head. "I'll get them in a breath."

Reason dictated that she had a ship at the ready to make her do the trip. But reason (and several chapters of the Codex for good measure) that one should not jump from unknown height only to activate their jetpack at the last second. There was no vessel in sight, therefore, the mare in front of her had probably just claimed that she could reach a High Atmospheric Mobile Base in less than an hour by herself. Reason dictated that it was impossible. But reason seemed to have a hard time on this planet. For the Equustode it was time to settle the score.

"Victory needs no explanation, defeat allows none," she quoted wryly.

"What do you mean?" said the pegasus, sensing that her word was attacked.

"Prove it," taunted Twilight.

The pegasus bit the bait and didn't let it go.

"Where will you be in one hour?" she asked.

"In the town archive, but..." started Twilight

"Here's my accreditation codes and frequency." Rainbow interrupted, sending the information to Twilight, as she prepared her jetpack and took what looked like a harpoon launcher, with a big metal disk fixed on the muzzle, from under it.

"Why would you..." Twilight tried.

"So you know that's me when I come to the archive in one hour," she declared, interrupting the unicorn once again.

And with that she was gone. The thruster came to life once again, propelling the pegasus at an astonishing speed, leaving a quite unorthodox rainbow coloured trail of fume behind her. For a fleeting second, Twilight wondered if this was supported by the Codex but she wasn't even sure which entry would address the problem of coloured jetpack trail.

Soon the pegasus was but a blurred figure for the simple eyes of Spike, but Twilight could still see in great details Rainbow Dash using every little trick know to pony to optimise her flight, somehow gaining more and more speed as she got higher. Still, Twilight knew that this wouldn't be enough to get to the base. Despite her skill, the mare was simply too slow. As an answer to the thought, the engines shut down, decapitating the twin rainbow snakes. The mare keep rising, but slower and slower, her trajectory curving slightly. Twilight did not sense any panic in Rainbow Dash's attitude. There was more coming. The pegasus was doing something while her speed was decreasing, but Twilight couldn't see what. A ship went between the two Spacemares, and the pegasus was gone.

It took two seconds for the unicorn to link the dots. Even then she couldn't believe it.

"Did she just?" she asked out loud.

"What did she do?" Spike question with insistence "I can't see a thing from this far!"

"I think she just hooked herself on a moving ship..."

Spike watched the ascending vessel for a few seconds.

"Amazing..." he stated matter-of-factly.

 

**~o~**

 

Twilight stayed a moment, observing Cloudsdale and wondering if the pegasus had already arrived. But she quickly snapped out of it. The civilians were about to end their rotation and soon the road would be overcrowded with exhausted and to be exhausted workers. Moreover, there was no doubt that with the help of an air ship, Rainbow Dash could do the operation in time so there was even less point in staying there.

Thus, Twilight and Spike went to the Archive, conveniently located next to the planetary governor office, without saying a word. The mare was lost into her thought, following Spike experienced guidance. The dragon had the itinerary memorised from his first time, and he was used to supervise his mistress walk in addition to his own. In fact, he had personally requested more conditioning to be able to do it more efficiently. He simply left her at her thought while quietly and subtly showing her the way.

The meeting with the Spacemares had left a permanent scar in Twilight's brain. She could not deny their skill and experience. Most of them were almost on par with Equustodes of her knowledge! And just like them they had this independent mind, this unique outlook on life and service in the name of the Empress that made the guardians of the Empress such a versatile and powerful force. And that was probably what bothered her the most. They were way too much like Equustodes. Spacemares with such independent minds died or worse, made their sisters die.

Who were those mares? And more importantly, how was she supposed to lead them if the need arise?

She did not have a valid answer when Spike told her that they were arrived. Twilight was not even surprised to see Rainbow Dash waiting for her in front of the door.

"Has it been an hour already?" Twilight asked, trying to seem unfazed.

"Only Fifty-three minutes." grinned the pegasus. "But I thought you were in a hurry so I made sure to be here in advance."

Rolling her eyes, the Equustode made sign for Spike to take the papers the Spacemare had brought.

"Thank you Sergeant."

"You're welcome Twilight Sparkle," said the pegasus, still grinning. "See you around!"

And, in a less flamboyant way than before, she was gone, leaving two Canterlotians and two rainbow-coloured smoke trails behind her.

"All I want now is to report to the Empress." said Twilight out loud. "Can I just have that?" she added mentally.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" said a somewhat familiar voice, right behind her back.

"It seems even that I can't have" noted mentally the Equustode as she turned back rapidly.

From the corner of her eyes, Twilight could see the cloaked pony a few metres away, but right now the thing that had her attention was the grenade rolling on the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Their advantage is shock and surprise. Our counter-advantage must be a lack of convention."  
> -Expand.


	5. Part One - Chapter 03 - The Dusk of Hope

**PV-01 orbit  
** **Planetary defence vessel _Dusk of Hope_**

 

The sector had the defence fleet fitting its scope. It was underwhelming yet efficient, and Ponyville stood as a paragon of that. The Dusk squadron had been put in charge of the system for a few decades now, and it had been a rather uneventful task. There had been that wannabe pirate lords who tried to test the defences of the planet, and it had had to escort an important Inquisition ship. That had been the peek of excitement so far and Rolling Die was more than happy with it.

"Retry to contact the ships, operator," demanded the deep voice of her captain, between two sips of his coffee flask.

"But I guess that couldn't last," she thought as she focused her attention back on her screen. Just as everyone else, she could feel the tension on the bridge. Captain Typhoon Snivel hated coffee. Everyone knew that. He tried to hide it every time he had to drink it, but his bionic forelegs always tensed when he opened the flask; the same kind they did when someone mentioned the Griffons to him. That's why he only drunk it at two times. When he needed to stay sharp and when the situation was about to get ugly. She really hoped he just had a very bad night.

Dominating the bridge, Typhoon Snivel tried to keep an air of serenity despite the coffee smell and his instinct yelling at him that something was wrong. The maroon unicorn checked his screens once again as his operator worked on her interface and ran the scans. His bionic eye sent him the exact same information it had the two time before. A few seconds later, she confirmed her previous observations. There were three non answering ships. Snivel resisted the urge to sip once more. His metallic forehoof got on his temple, displacing some locks of his white mane, the coolness of the prosthesis soothing his worried mind. There had not been any problem in the system prior to that. No sign of incoming attack, no unidentified vessel or anything. They were still within the authorised margins, and the captain knew there were perfectly reassuring and plausible reasons for those ships not to respond; most of them were statistically very probable even. But the first thing Typhoon had learnt during his service was that believing the reassuring options were most likely to kill you and millions of ponies.

"Which ships?" he asked.

"The _Crusader of Tartarus_ , the _Just Retribution_ and the _Last Barrier_ Captain," somepony answered.

Typhoon Snivel pondered on these information. He personally knew the crew of the _Crusader_. He had served with them a decade or so before he got his own ship. The vessel was likely kept on optimal condition or at least, in the best state the current assignment permitted. And their captain was no fool either and half the tricks Typhoon knew he had learnt from ponies like him. The chances that the ship didn't answer were really thin. Two ships in addition to that? Not happening.

Still glaring at the screen, the stallion gave his orders : "Alert the rest of the squadron. Unknown threat detected. -" Typhoon took a sip of coffee. "- Navigator, I want us in interception trajectory with the closest ship. All hooves in quarters, raise the shields and don the weapons. I want this ship as ready as if the Warp itself was coming down on us. Which may very well happen," he added ominously.

Typhoon Snivel emptied his flask. This time he could not prevent disgust to take control of his face. "Empress I hate this thing," he thought.

"And bring me more coffee," he asked motioning his empty flask.

"So long for enjoying the small things in life..." thought Rolling Die, repressing a sigh. "This is going to be a long day."

 

**~o~**

 

"This plan is terrible! We should have attacked them directly!"

Death Scream said nothing. She knew better than acknowledging Small Pox rant, even an hours-long one -- she had other things to worry about anyway -- but even then, her patience was wearing thin. She was very tempted to act against her reason and snap at her... but she knew it would only fuel her complaint rampage. She could turn off the vox, but in their situation they had to keep in touch at all time. Death Scream sighed. Only the Gods could devise such a cruel test of patience.

Between two curses about the Imperials weak blood -- a nice change that unfortunately didn't last long -- Death Scream tried to get a visual of her half-squad. She had lost sight of them hours ago while drifting into the void. Had she known Small Pox would be so annoying, she would have sabotaged her armour beforehand. Her helpless suffocation would have been a sweet melody to make the time pass.

"This is beneath us! We are the scourge of the galaxy, not torpedoes!" the annoying Spacemare continued.

Tapping in lengths of willpower she didn't even know she had, Death Scream once again ignored her irritating sister by concentrating on her objective. For her defence, this plan was a lot of things and crazy was the least of them. When the Sorcerer told her that she and two squads would be sent into space for hours, in hope to catch a frigate and get inside using unknown Chaos magic, her first reaction had been to laugh. Her second reaction had been to catch her breath after Moon Terror hit her, hard, in the stomach. "Damn her and her pet Sorcerer," she thought with not so repressed anger. Yet she had to admit, the whole scheme was very clever, even considering its borderline suicidal part.

Their half-squad target vessel was very close now. So close in fact that, without any other mark, it just looked like a big metal wall dividing space in two. Death Scream knew very well that the Frigate was in fact ridiculously small compared to other battleships. This was but an escort ship. A small thing made to harass and distract the enemy while the true battleships, bigger and better armed, were made to wage war, destroy whole fleets and burn worlds. And yet, they choose a handful of that insignificant piece of armament and assigned it to defend a world. A worthless one even! Death Scream didn't know what was worse. That vessels would be assigned to such a system or that the defence allocated would be so ridiculously weak. This pretence of defence was pathetic but unsurprising from the agonising Imperium, she thought. Soon the sun would be eclipsed by the planet bellow them and plunge the place into the darkness. Just as the sorcerer predicted, the vessel was almost close enough. Once again, she pressed the strange relic on her chest. It was vital that she kept it no matter what happened.

"We should have brought our ships and bring them death!" continued Small Pox.

"BY NURGLE'S ROTTING TAIL WILL YOU SHUT UP?" shouted an another angry voice on the vox.

"Make me sister. Oh wait a minute... YOU CAN'T!"

"I swear on the Gods' name that if you don't shut up, I'll make sure this long insufferable monologue of yours will be the last coherent thing you'll ever say!"

"Bold talk. Is there another Spacemare inside that armour of yours to help you back it up?"

Death Scream annoyance went up a notch. The amount of frustrating mares to deal with had just been doubled. She was about to join the fray when something caught her eyes. She could see some of her Spacemares. The area was growing more luminous as time passed instead of getting darker. This could only mean one thing and it was bad news.

"THEY'RE ACTIVATING THE SHIELDS! USE THE RELIC NOW!" she screamed in alert.

"THE SORCERER LIED TO US! I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE GUTTED HIM!" Small Pox complained.

"If you survive this, I swear to the Gods that I will kill you Pox" promised Death Scream. "Even if I have to get back from the Warp to do so," she added mentally.

The space around the ship got brighter as the energy was directed from the generators to the hull. The Spacemares brace themselves, praying to the Ruinous Powers that they would be able to get inside before it was too late. The relic on Death Scream chest started to get hotter, a reddish glow started to emanate from it but the Spacemare went blind as the filters on her helmet gave up, unable to deal with such an aggression. She had already shut her eyes up, but even then it was not enough. The temperature started to rise around her quickly becoming unbearable even for her. In the vox, a familiar voice screamed. Death Scream smiled at the sound. Even in death Small Pox was a loud mouth... but for once she liked what she heard. She still wore the contempt smile as everything went blank.

 

**~o~**

 

Typhoon Snivel was trying to stay as rational as possible. He kept his head on the task before him and tried his best not to let mere hunches get the best of his logical thinking. Yet, this time, he could not shake the feeling that something really bad was about to happen. An unknown and powerful fear was twisting his entrails more than the black brew he was torturing himself with. And it didn't help that most of the other captains were sceptical about this. Most of them had acknowledged his call and make some preparations but only a two had followed his lead and really got ready for action.

"Do we have an answer from the ships?" he asked once again.

"No," an Operator responded. "We're trying to get them through another signal, in case of a malfunction, but it had shown no result yet."

The Captain nodded absent-mindedly. "I hope I'm mistaken," he thought ominously.

 

**~o~**

 

"Status," Death Scream whispered for the umpteenth time in her vox.

Only static answered her call. There was a chance the shield had jammed the communicator or that the others were not able to reach her yet. But somehow she doubted it. Until further notice she was alone and probably the only surviving member of her half-squad. Moreover, she was unable to say how long it had taken her to get inside the ship. A few seconds? Minutes? Hours? Playing with the energies of the Gods' realm always impacted the way time flowed... As far as she was concerned, months could have passed. So time was also a factor to take into account. As things were supposed to go, each of the member of the group was to cripple a vital part of the ship, Rendering it momentously unable to function. Then sever the head, and finally go to the Warp-Drive. Now, things had gotten a lot more complicated. She had to carry out the same mission, faster and alone.

She'd had to adjust her objectives.

As she examined the empty room were she had appeared, Death Scream thought of a plan of action. She had to prioritise the main targets. The bridge and the Warp-drive. She was a Spacemare facing ants. It was perfectly doable. No matter how many they were, ants were still ants. The real problem was to do it before they could raise the alarm. A quick detour to the communications would be necessary before she could focus on the main dish.

She had orders. She had a plan. She was ready.

"For the Warmistress," she said as she drew her dagger and left the room.

 

**~o~**

 

Rolling Die was sure she had not dreamt it. For a few seconds, there had been a surge in the shields, as if it had been hit by small energy weapons but not trace of attack or anything. It was gone as soon as it had appeared. There was a chance Rolling Die had just imagined it or that it was just a dysfunction of the shield, but somehow she doubted it. "Better safe than sorry," she thought as she reached a decision.

"Captain?" she ventured. "I've had weird reading from the shield and from this part of the hull"- she pointed the middle of the ship on a map on her screen. -"It was fast and relatively small so it's probably nothing but given the situation, -" she shrugged "- I thought it was worth mentioning," she quickly added.

Typhoon Snivel looked at her intensely. She gulped but didn't avert her gaze. The expression of her captain suddenly soften and for a second she thought she saw the shadow of a smile. It was gone so fast there was no way to say if she had just imagined it. The red optics returned to the deck as he gave his orders :

"Send patrols in this sector," he ordered his second. "Check them every minutes. -" He then turned toward Rolling Die, nodded and, with a solemnity that took her by surprise, he added "- Keep up the good work."

"Sir! Yes sir!" she half-shouted with enthusiasm.

This time, she was sure she had seen a smile.

 

**~o~**

 

Death Scream hated a lot of ponies.

The list encompassed the entirety of the Imperium, Xenos, pirates, renegades and others Heretics alike. But some ponies were pretty good at annoying her and, when she was lucky,  were not her sisters in battle or temporary allies but actual foes. And by his constant interfering with her progression, the captain of this ship had earn a special place at the top of said list. Her hope of getting fast and unnoticed had been quickly shut down when patrols started to navigate the area. At first she managed to avoid them but her progression had become way too slow for her liking. blood lust and exasperation had got the best of her tactical thinking. Now she advanced as fast as her chain axe permitted. Which would be quicker if she didn't enjoy killing the feeble ponies so much. Flesh and blood painted her armour and her face, now unprotected so that she could enjoy her slaughter to its fullest.

She was getting lost in her rage when she felt an impact on her head. It tilted on the shock then came back on its initial position. She slowly turned her gaze toward the perpetrator, the hungry smile still on her face. It was a middle-aged earth pony. Death Scream could sense his fear, hidden behind a mask of rage. He tried to reassure himself, and his companions probably, with an angry "Heretic" shouted at her.

 _How unoriginal_.

"You noticed?" Death Screamer smirked as her blade butchered a servitor in half. "I can't believe you noticed... What gave it away?"- Another crew member died, his throat reduced to pulp by a kick. -"Was is my armour?"- An auto-turret was shot silent. -"The skulls were too much isn't it? Or maybe it's on my helm? The chaos emblems are pretty obvious aren't they? "- A bolter shot exploded amongst three ponies. One of them died at once, the two other were swiftly executed.

Death Scream walked calmly toward her last victim, not even exhausted by the massacre. He was the last one alive, his useless lasgun at his hooves. He trembled in fear now, pathetically, watching the emissary of death silently making her way toward him.

"So? What gave me away pony?" she asked with mocking disdain.

Her blade cut a forelimb. The pony fell on the ground, too shocked to scream.

"So? Your false Empress got your tongue?"

Another limb was gruesomely detached from its owner. Death Scream purposely slowed her blow to make the wound messier. This time, the pony howled. The chaos Spacemare glowered at the sound. She got around him, slowly getting out of his sight. Unable to turn toward her, he desperately struggled to flee his torturer, leaving two trails of blood on the ground. He didn't go far. There was a sickening sound as both his hind legs were crushed by a set of powerful hooves.

The shriek echoed in the halls. Death Scream smiled like a madpony as she felt the Ruinous Powers influence grow stronger within her.

"I know! I must be my blade inside your corpse!"

And with that, she slid her blade on his flank. Organs fled the battered corpse, as if trying to escape the pain that filled it.

"Congratulation, your observation skills served you well," she mocked one last time, leaving the pony to die a painful and way too slow death.

Still smiling the renegade went deeper inside the ship.

 

**~o~**

 

The bridge was totally silent. Five patrols had ceased to respond, two more had had time to confirm that they were under attack before going mute. Captain Typhoon Snivel quaffed a long sip of his newly refuelled flask, took a deep breath and gave his orders :

"We are boarded, lock everything lockable, from the centre of the ship to the decks, until we know the menace has been eliminated." he demanded calmly. "Protect the communication centres in priority. Call the battlefleet and tell them the system is under attack of undetermined scope. Warn every captain in the system and tell them to consider any non responding ship at the hands of the enemy, including ours of course. And may the Empress be with us."

"This is going to be a long day," he thought.

 

**__________**

 

**Somewhere in the Ponyville System**

The Sorcerer was moving his pawns.

The Moon cultists were awaiting his orders. Hidden among the pathetic sun lovers. Soon they would sacrifice Ponyville for the Warmistress. The _Somnum Extereri_ had been waiting for months now, hiding in the shadows patiently, lurking in the edge of the sensors of the imperial squadron. The moment was coming when he would unleash its fury upon the unsuspecting world. The Bats were ready to welcome back to their mistress into the material world and wage war in her name.

But now was not the moment. The Sorcerer and his allies had to wait their hour, and the whole system hold its breath in waiting for the things to come. Now was the time for careful strategy and precisely orchestrated actions.

Behind him, dozens of fanatics were chanting for the Gods, asking for their blessing. Sometimes, one managed to catch their gazes upon him. What happened next depended on the cruelty of the Lords of the Immaterium and the heretic own resilience.

At his side stood his "champion" as he liked to call her. It always amused him to see the massive demi-goddess pegasus at his side, as his equal. There was something exhilarating about it. Yet he knew better than berate the Spacemare. She just had enough respect for his power and his knowledge to admit that she needed him as much as he needed her.

"You never asked me why I suggested that we do things as we did," he said pensively.

"And you never asked why I agreed with your plan," she answered.

"True."

Both ponies stayed silent for a moment.

"Do you know the first lesson of strategy my mistress ever gave me?" he asked.

"No, Sorcerer," she said flatly.

"What she taught me was that a good plan does not make success a certainty, for such a thing does not exists; it make failure insignificant," he stated calmly.

"Funny... Do you know what my Primare'ch taught me once on this subject?" she asked softly.

"Please, do enlighten me Champion," the Sorcerer smirked.

"She taught me that failure was never an option."

Silence fell as the Sorcerer tried to remain calm as he coped with the implied threat.

"I suppose a mere pony has different expectations to meet than an all-powerful Spacemare," he said, trying to get back some of his composure.

"The price of failure stays the same Sorcerer," she said looking at him intensely. "Don't forget it."

"I have more to lose than you could ever take from me Spacemare. So rest assured that I won't," he responded without hesitations withstanding the mare glaze.

"Good."

There was a third silence.

"I think the time has come, Champion. Ponyville is ripe for the taking."

The stoic pegasus let a ravenous smile flourish on her face. "It was about time."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "One warrior usually suffices."  
> \- Priad of the Iron Snakes


	6. Part One - Chapter 04 - What lies in the shadows

**PV-01  
** **Admistratum quarter, in front of the planetary archives**

The grenade rolled slowly and softly bumped Twilight's hoof.

Spike turned toward his Lady, concern worming its way on his face as the small noise of metal hitting ceramite passed his fin to hit his brain. The unicorn didn't move. A resolute expression was plastered on her face. Shock had no hold on her : her training had already kicked in.

The device was custom made, but clearly based on regular imperial krak grenade models. Impractical, but more than enough to damage her armour and even hurt her. Since it hadn't exploded yet, it was safe to assume the fuse was still on. This left Twilight with approximately ten seconds to get rid of it. Likely less than that. She had to get rid of it. She considered her surroundings. The Administratum quarters were not the most populated area, but she could still hear a herd of ponies approaching.

"The streets won't do," she noted.

The warmare gripped the grenade in her ceramite clad hoof and was gone in a flash.

Spike had barely moved from his spot, in fact, he barely had time to react, but he knew his duty : he would wait for his lady's return. Unfortunately, somepony didn't agree with his plans. Darkness invaded his world as a strange scent assaulted his nostrils.

 

 

**~o~**

 

Twilight ascended. _Not high enough_. Roofs flashed before her eyes as she went. _Higher_. She teleported. _Once more_. Then she reached her goal : a small overture in the confining of buildings. _HERE!_

Gathering as much strength as she could in such a short notice, Twilight threw the device. It exploded as soon as it left her hoof, but the Equustode was already gone. Lavender lights flashed once again in the darkening sky like the first thunderbolts of an incoming tempest. There was a heavy shock when the massive unicorn in armour fell on the ground, right at her starting point.

The change in scenery in ten mere seconds made Twilight frown.

Fresh blood flowed lazily around her golden horseshoe. In lieu and place of her serf was the corpse of a pegasus. Blood poured irregularly through his sliced throat. A simple look was enough to understand that the pony was already beyond salvation, save maybe for the work of a skilled apothecary. But Twilight didn't care for his fate, she had more important problems right now : Spike was missing.

"Spike?" she called.

For the second time in a very frustrating day, the lack of answer worried the armoured unicorn as she realised that her serf was nowhere in sight. The frown got deeper. She had just been attacked, there was a dead pegasus at her feet and her Monitor was missing. There were many possibilities almost none were reassuring.

The sound of hooves clapping on the stone floor immediately caught her attention, diverting her from those thoughts. She instantly turned toward the source and let and exasperated groan left her muzzle as she found herself facing the archives. What had been a haven less than ten minutes ago was now a potential battlefield.

"Why am I not surprised?" she brooded, her horn glowing as her staff levitated at her side. "At this point, I should expect heretics and an ambush," she added bitterly.

Without further ado, Twilight teleported inside the building.

 

**~o~**

 

The empty entry hallway of the Administratum archive was briefly illuminated by a flash of lavender light before returning to its flickering, dark and, by many standard, impractical level. Despite the circumstances, Twilight could not help but give an appreciative look at the place. The archives were everything she could have hoped for. Years of underponied care had turned the place into a maze of shelves filled with raw data in any form known to ponykind (known and authorised by the Inquisition anyway) grouped in the faintest semblance of order. She doubted it would compare to the Equustode's library but there should be interesting pieces of information lying here. She would have to wait before she could study it further however. Now, her focus was on the pony she heard running in the distance.

Silently wishing that her prey would have answers and her serf, Twilight went further into the archives.

Twilight ran, like a thunderstorm closing on an unsuspecting shore, her heavy, armoured hooves thundering on the stone floor like the fury of some old pagan god. She bolted through walls and flashed through shelves, reclaiming metres after metres on her prey. Twilight ran, and the place shook in fear from her rumbling course. And Twilight ran, her steady hearts beats and the rhythmic lap of fleeing hooves pacing her. A few shelves and turns only prevented her to see them and strike... for now.

_Soon._

Twilight still ran, getting close. She could glimpse her mark now. A dark cloak hid most of their features, save for a puffy tail and locks of a curly mane... and an unconscious dragonling on their back. More magic poured in the staff each passing second. Bolts of energy crackled around it making the shadows recoil in terror. All she needed now was the right moment.

_Soon._

Twilight and her prey ran, deep into the archive through hidden paths and halls, old and forgotten. They were a few metres away from each other. The scent of ozone and sweat filled the air around her. Smelled like victory for the Equustode.

_NOW!_

A golden and lavender thunderbolt flew toward the runaway pony at an astonishing speed. However, as if sensing the incoming attack, they _turned_. Right into the wall, getting through it as if it was made of paper. Surprise dulled the reaction of the Equustode, making her pass the hole for a few feet before she could react appropriately. It didn't take long, mere seconds, but it was enough : when she finally got through the new overture in the wall, her target was already gone.

Frustration made its way through Twilight's throat, manifesting itself in a low grumble. With a thought, she took back her half-buried staff and made it hover at her left side as she penetrated the new room with circumspection.

Now that the thrill of the chase was gone, Twilight realised how deep she had gone into the building. Darkness had grown so thick the faint glow of her staff was barely enough for even her senses to correctly assess the room. Wary of ambushes, Twilight increased the intensity of the light surrounding her horn and staff. The shadows fled, hiding between the shelves and various rumbles and irregularities on the ground, revealing as they did, a room which made the entrance looks organized. It was vast, though it was hard to have a precise idea due to the lack of light, and was as much filled with knowledge as it was _made_ of it. Scrolls and books, velum and papyrus, and every support where a pony could possibly use ink (or any other liquid for that matter), and even more, all of it escaping the restraining confines to join the walls, floor and even ceiling in some parts. Twilight was in no mood to admire the sight yet. The only thing she could see was the way too numerous hiding places it provided.

While she progressed, way more cautiously now, the Equustode pondered on her current situation. She had let things get out of control, a luxury she could not afford. It was becoming quite the bad habit. Maybe she had neglected her training more than she cared to admit... However, now she was focused and her mind clear, making some details she had overlooked blatantly obvious. It boiled down to one thing. Her prey had successfully escaped the wrath of an Equustode by hoof, with a dragon on their back, without getting lost or getting into an impasse. This showed an incredible strength, willpower, endurance and training, and an extensive knowledge of the building. Twilight was still formulating hypothesis when she finally heard something. It was nothing more than a distant whisper in the distance at first, but the more she focused on it, the more it became obvious there was something wrong about it. In the depths of the archives, ponies were chanting.

Twilight dimmed the light of her staff and get deeper into the archive.

_Soon._

 

**__________**

 

Spike shifted in and out of consciousness.

Senseless dreams plagued is fevered mind. Sometimes he could grasp something out of his visions, or maybe his visions were influenced by what was happening around him, there was no way for him to tell which one it was. He was fleeing something. Or something was running away from him. Sometimes, when reality drew closer, he could feel the steady pace of a pony running under him. Not a mere pony... a Spacemare, _Twilight_? he knew the difference. Something inside him woke at the thought of Twilight fleeing. A spark in the midst of the fog that now inhabited his brain. Thoughts started to gather around it, creating a semblance of coherence. Consciousness was winning its battle for dominance. The fog was starting to retreat, leaving him confused but aware. The first thing he realised was that he wasn't running anymore. He was sit. And nothing moved. Not even his own body. A slight panic took him as felt his body struggling to obey his command. His body was numb and heavy. Opening his eyes asked more efforts that he could gather. Even his senses were dulled to the point he barely felt the books uncomfortably pressed against his back scales. A painful groan formed and stayed into his throat turning into an barely audible gurgle. Next to him, something (somepony?) moved and got closer. The sound of hooves softly clapping on the stone floor reverberated strangely in his fins.

"Are you awake?" said a distorted voice.

The faint feeling of a hoof posed on his scale made him flinch, or the pathetic equivalent that his body now permitted. That was enough for the pony, however.

"Good!"

Spike tried to move, to force his muscle to obey. A shiver went through his body as a result.

"Don't worry! It'll pass. You've been a tinsy winsy drugged you see? It should be gone in a jiffy. Maybe two."

Another groan got through the dragon lips.

"Sush silly! You're gonna swallow your tongue! And we don't want that do we?" the cheerful voice asked rhetorically. "Now stay here and don't make a noise. Your mistress is coming and I don't want to miss the fun~," the voice sang. "Just relax and enjoy the soothing sound of gunshots."

The "clic" of a rifle being loaded made a very ominous punctuation to her sentence and sent a chill down Spike's spine. Inside the confines of his fogged mind and drugged body, the dragon cursed his weakness.

 

**__________**

 

As she drew closer to the source of the sounds, Twilight started to grasp more of the words and she wished she hadn't. She wasn't sure what made her skin crawl, the words spoken or the heresy in itself. Probably both. And either way, it didn't matter.

The empty hallways were dimly lit by archaic torches probably made with the materials at disposal. The thought was cringe-worthy but the mere presence of heretic in her living quarters left little to no room in her mind for more "dissatisfaction". There was several dozens of ponies, _a hundred? Surely a bit more than that..._ , all gathered in a relatively small room, or whatever the space delimited by books and furnitures could be called. As far as Twilight could see from her observing post, there was only one entrance and thus one exit, which made her task way easier.

"For Celestia." she whispered.

And thus Twilight entered the room.

The first cultist didn't even realise his death. He simply wondered why his voice wouldn't come out anymore. Blood loss quickly got the better of his thinking ability as the staff that had perforated his throat left the wound. Two more followed as the bladed staff sliced through their neck and temple. The decapitated pony marvelled at the rising floor before everything went dark. The second gurgled as her jaw enjoyed the sudden freedom that a brain removal would grant. At this point some cultists realised that something was wrong, namely a demi-goddess clad in gold slaughtering them. Three more ponies died before any alarm was raised. By the time her foes defence started to organise, Twilight's victims count was in the double digits. There was a pause, as the Equustode stood before the exit and the heretics watched her in awe. The staff lazily flew at the left side of the warmare, the blade facing the assembly as if passing a silent judgement on the crowd. Then its dance started anew.

And heretics died.

 

**~o~**

 

Somewhere in the archive, through a sniper lens, somepony watched the fight with great interest. The spectacle was like nothing they'd ever see. It was not mere destruction of the enemy, it was something else, something more. The cloaked pony watched in amazement the lone unicorn move with a deadly efficiency, each motion resulting in the disarming, impairment either/or death of a cultist. It was beautiful in its own way. It was a dance. A dance of death and the cultist were trying, and failing, to follow the pace imposed by the warmare. It was truly beautiful. Too bad she had to cut it short...

 

**~o~**

 

Many more heretics lied on the ground before any worthwhile resistance manifest itself. At first, they had tried to fight or flee, but miserably failed at both. Without the proper equipment, they could barely make a dent on Twilight armour, let alone hurt her. Now they merely tried to defend their life, with very similar results. For a moment, the unicorn wondered if they'd keep getting in line to get slaughtered, but she suspected she wouldn't be so lucky. And for once realities met her expectations.  

There was a pause as the ponies seemed to retreat, getting as much space as possible in such a crowded room between them and the Equustode.

Twilight knew better. This was not the panicked attitude of a herd of ponies fleeing. It was something else, something she had already seen countless times in her barrack. Ponies getting far enough not to get drawn into something that was bigger than them but not too far so they could see as much as possible of what was to come. It was the organized yet unconscious moves of a crowd about to assist a duel. They were making a ring for her and whatever stood as their champion.

Pondering her options, Twilight decided to wait for her foe to come out.

It didn't take long.

A rumour roams the crowd as the pony fended it.

Said champion was young (barely out of foalhood in fact), a unicorn, had made a lot of effort to erase any sign of gender out of their persona, but most importantly wore heresy as a robe, both metaphorically and literally. It was almost stereotypical. If their unholy-word-ridden piece of clothes wasn't enough to identify their allegiance, they had elected to paint the characteristic eight-branch star on her unmaned head, centred on her horn, and did the same on her tailless flanks. But Twilight need not those to mark them. The influence of the Warp was thick around the yellow unicorn, enough to make the Equustode's skin crawl sightly. If she could, she'd have sentenced them to death twice. Or more.

The psyker was barely out of the crowd when a golden, chakram-like projectile hit their position. Too busy to bow to the unicorn, the mass of cultist cluttered there were unable to avoid the rotating staff and  took the hit at full force, leaving in its place more casualties. The weapon came back to its owner, as quickly as it was gone, to its usual hovering place.

Twilight dared a victorious smile, that quickly faded. In its stead, a frustrating groan almost managed to escape her muzzle. The Psyker was still here, standing a few metres away from his initial position, a satisfied smile on their face. The Psyker was waiting. Waiting for Twilight to make the first move. Again.

The warmare was happy to oblige.

 

**~o~**

 

Twilight "dissatisfaction" was reaching a peak.

Instead of a fight she was caught in another pointless chase. The Psyker seemed to have no intention to actually confront their foe. They annoyingly shifted in and out of reality, escaping the flurry of blows of the Equustode raining upon them. Even more infuriating was the feeling (more of an educated guess) that something was ahoof. It was obvious the Psyker was waiting for something. They were stalling her and she knew it, it was painfully obvious. They could barely keep up at this; their breath was short and shallow, their coat was drenched in sweat, at time they almost struggled to stand up; while the Equustode was barely phased. Yet they kept going. Soon they would slip up and get caught by the staff or claimed by the very forces they used to cheat death. Yet they keep going. And there was barely anything the lavender unicorn could do about it. Yet. But it didn't make things any less "unsatisfactory". Every attack avoided by the Psyker; every fanatical smile on the faces of the heretics as they died, taking blows intended for their leader; every seconds she was forced to stay here instead of looking for Spike just added to and already overfilled pool of "frustration".

The staff struck again, killing two more cultists.

The Psyker reemerged, a mere metre away, a mocking smirk on their face.

Twilight Sparkle was no longer "dissatisfied".

 

**~o~**

 

Despite their efforts and exhaustion, Lasting Chains could not contain a victorious smile on their face. True, the false-empress whorse had taken them by surprise and killed many of them... but she was alone and they had something in store for this scenario. The Psyker just had to stall her foe long enough for the rest of the cultists to prepare the counter-attack.

Another blow was struck at her and Lasting Chains let the grip of the Warp claim her again.

The material world faded to be replaced with the taunting faces of daemons. They were gathering around the Psyker, testing their defences, haunting them, waiting for the small slip, the small laps in their concentration that would expose the tasty looking soul of the unicorn. It was getting harder to ignore the inhuman faces shouting, pleading, shushing, promising, whispering, crying, laughing or, and not limited to, any combination of the former. But victory was at hoof, Lasting Chains knew better than blowing it up at the last minute. Drawing in their soon to be failing strengths, they emerged of the warp, ready to taunt the imperial foal once again.

Lasting Chains just had the time to see the face of a purple demi-goddess, contorted with anger, before the world collapsed.

Something thumped them. No it felt more like they had been sent at an incredible speed on a plasteel wall. Their skull break on several part and their whole skeleton quaked at the impact. Their body went limp like a broken toy. Reality lost its substance. There was only darkness. Lasting Chains felt like they were flying. Maybe they were... they couldn't feel the ground anymore. "Maybe sleeping would make things make sense again?" they pondered as they felt their consciousness fading.

A shock, somehow softer than the previous one woke her up.

"ast... ime... is... my... itor?" came a voice from outside the darkness.

It took un undetermined amount of time for the Psyker to understand, but dread took them as they realised that they were screamed at so loudly that the sound waves hit them hard enough to wake them up. For the first time since the beginning of the fight they foolishly got themself into, Lasting Chains realised just how dangerous the warmare was.

"Must... stop her...". The thought emerged at the surface of her conciousness. They cast the spell, using whatever life force remained in their broken body. A spell that got them their name...

Lasting Chains died, with the small comfort that the Daemons ripping her soul to shred were sightly less frightening after having faced the wrath of an Equustode.

 

**~o~**

 

The Psyker hung limply at the end of the leg of a ticked off Equustode, broken and barely conscious from a kick delivered to their face. Twilight groaned in frustration as she realised they were too far gone to answer her questions. She was about to direct her anger toward the crowd watching the spectacle when she realised the trap she had fallen into. The Psyker had managed to catch her attention long enough so she wouldn't pay attention to the mare now aiming at her with a gun of high enough calibre to actually hurt her.

It had taken her less than a day to show negligence again... "Unacceptable," Twilight thought laconically.

 

**~o~**

 

 

A cloaked mare grinned as her prey was at last on position. There was a light "clic" as she lightly pressed the trigger.

"Let's end this party with a bang..."

 

 

**~o~**

 

Twilight tried to move but she found herself unable to do so as chains of power was starting to cover her body. It wouldn't hinder her long, a handful of seconds. But she didn't really have that.

"Truly unacceptable."

The detonation filled the room.

 

 

**~o~**

 

The bullet shell rolled toward Spike with a maddening slowness, making a shrill sound while doing so. Anger and shame rose inside him, cutting through the fog that had invaded his thoughts, as they rallied behind one very simple idea. Getting up and bring pain to those who'd hurt his Lady. His body struggled against the chemicals in his muscles, making him shake violently and erratically at the effort. The feeling of helplessness was nauseating, the pain, even worse, but the dragon refused to let go.

Or so he thought. The noise of a sniper rifle reloading had a bone chilling effect Spike was still unfamiliar with. a dissident thought started to hijack his efforts : "I'm going to die...".

Hungry for the territory it had lost, the fog came back... To be brutally thrown out.

"There is no way I'm going without a fight!"

Spike efforts redoubled and the fog definitively left as the anger rose inside him.

"I am the Monitor of Equustode Twilight Sparkle! Defender of the Throne! And I will live and I will die like it!"

The poison in his muscle started to recede.

Still shaking, Spike slowly rose on his feet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "She spinned like a dervish, her blade dancing around her. Death accompanied her, following her quick tempo without a fault. The death cry of her enemies made a pleasing counterpoint to the constant humming of the glowing blade swinging threw the air.  
> And she sang for her Empress. Chants of love and devotion for Her, of hate and despise of Her enemy, words of duty and fidelity.  
> She carried the dance of death, until her own demise make her part from her duty."  
> \- The dance of the Spacemare, author unknown.


	7. Part One - Interlude 01 - The shortest night

**PV-01  
** **Recreation sector**

 

The bar was a common place for the miners to gather after their shift. There was alcohol for starter, and the occasional pony willing to spend a good time. Gravel Ire usually avoided it like the noisy, drunkard-filled, cramped room it usually was. Tonight however, he needed the release and the cheap apple cider that brought it. The day had been worse than usual and the day of a miner is usually hard to top. First, ten members of his crew called sick and forced him and the rest to work twice as much to compensate, then they were told there was some kind of imperial official that was to come and thus they would have to end their shift late for some security crap reasons.

"Damn those filthy, better-than-you, snotty, nobles," he ranted angrily. "Come from Canterlot, looking down on us while they never did a damn on their own. Wouldn't lift a hoof to save their own life if there wasn't a slave to do it for them!"

The stallion interrupted his known-by-heart rant and watched his reflection in the amber liquid, now devoid of foam. Staring angrily at the recent white stripes in his once pristine black mane. There was a time where the ambiance light would hide them. Not anymore. It was one but the several tolls the mines had taken on him. With a disgusted groan he emptied his mug. Drops of alcohol flew out and stained his grey coat. He didn't react. He had ceased to care at the third cider and to notice at the fifth. He was still looking for the dose that would make the ponies around him more tolerable. Apparently seven was still not enough, but he was getting close.

"Heya friend!" said a annoyingly cheerful voice next to him.

Or maybe not so close.

"Is this seat taken?" asked another in a pain-in-the-plotly joyous tone.

"What do you guess?" he mumbled unpleasantly, hoping that his tone would be a cue.

It was not.

The two ponies sit next to him a great smile on their face and a mug in their hoof. Gravel Ire grumbled to himself. Just as he thought ponykind could be tolerable. He decided to ignore them. Years of experience had made him really good at it.

"Tis a nice night isn't it?" the first pony ask, still unbearably happy.

"Yeah! A superb one!" the second answered.

A dreadful thought came to the miner : "Don't tell me they plan to keep at it?"

They did.

Three minutes of painful chatter later, The two pony-shaped nuisances were still at it, babbling his calm away. The two additional ciders he took were still not enough and hitting the double digits was something he left for the truly desperate. Something he would become soon if he didn't get rid of them. He'd thought of living the place, but the two ponies were blocking his exit. And he was too proud to give them what counted as a win in his book.

"Hey did you know?" _Shut up..._

"Not yet," _Shut up._

"Tonight's the summer solstice!" _Shut up!_

"Really? The night's gonna be short!" _SHUT UP!_

"Yeah! We better do the most of it then! What do you think?" _SHUT THE BUCK UP!_

Even with enough alcohol to put his liver on strike Gravel knew an opportunity when he saw one and he grabbed it. It was either that or physically assault them.

"It would be even shorter if you two left me the buck alone!" he groaned very audibly. "Every minute with your babbling feel like a freaking eternity!"

There was a second of silence. Quickly broke by some laughters :

"Ah! We got a grumpy one!" one of them said.

"Quite! We should leave him alone now," his accomplice said.

"About time!" Gravel grumbled just audibly enough so they would hear him.

The intruders left the table, still laughing at him. The closer, the one on his right, tripped, falling on him and discharging his warm beverage on him at the same time. Gravel helped him the best he could : by shoving the annoying pony out of him. They exited the bar, still laughing, leaving the grumpy digger both soaked and furious.

While grumbling his best insults, describing mostly anatomically impossible and extremely painful situations for the duo, Gravel looked around him searching for a way to clean himself up. It was useless to count on the ponies here. The few that was still in the room were wasted beyond recovery. Some of them were even lying in pools of what seemed to be a mix of alcohol and body fluids.

"That's gonna hurt tomorrow," he sneered.

Still he was not in a very good condition himself and if he was to be in any shape to work tomorrow shift he'd better go back to bed as soon as possible. Gravel was starting to feel dizzy. It was getting harder to focus. If only he could find a towel or a napkin or anything! The stallion started to staggering aimlessly in the room. Something wet made him trip. He felt a sharp pain on his chest. He had not drink that much did he?

"You're getting old," he laughed, trying to get back some confidence.

Instinctively, he put his hoof on his chest, checking for injury. The wet and warm feeling made the blood still inside him run cold.

"Oh buck! How the... Buck!"

The cut on his chest was deep. Blood was continuously flowing through it, staining his fur way more than the cider had done. Gravel Ire tried and failed to get up. His limbs were weak and alcohol and panic made them unresponsive. The stallion slipped again, wetting his coat with even more blood.

"Du-did I slip in... my blood? OhBuckOhBuckOhBuckOhBuckOhBuckOhBuck...".

Panic gave way to full fledged terror. Gravel tried to get up while clutching his open wound with expected results. His face fell on the pool of his own fluid. Blood was everywhere, he could not escape.

"SWEET CELESTIA! SOMEPONY HELP! ANYPONY! HELP!" he pleaded.

Dead indifference met his call.

"Somepony help me..." he sobbed.

Nopony came to help.

Dead ponies never do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "When the traitor's hand strikes, it strikes with the strength of a legion."  
> \- attibuted to the Warmistress


	8. Part One - Chapter 05 - End of opening

**PV-01  
** **Planetary archives**

Twilight stood defiantly, a heap of bodies at her hooves.

She absent-mindedly studied the corpse of a pony she had not killed. Memories of the recent fight...

 

 

**~o~**

 

The detonation filled the room, leaving a deafening silence as it died. For an instant, Twilight wondered why she felt no pain. The instant passed and she saw the mess that once was the gunner's head. In the distance, she heard the sound of a rifle reloading. She didn't lose time wondering what was happening. The room still need purification.

If there was any doubt before, the fight became a one-sided butchery. The mysterious sniper was shooting down any pony daring enough to get close to the heavy weapon. The screams of heretics filled the room a few more minutes until the only audible sound came from Twilight prayers.

 

 

**~o~**

 

... still flashing in her mind. She had an ally. Or rather, those cultists had another enemy.

Twilight displaced a body to look at a its bullet wound. One hit, one kill. Like all the others. Whoever the pony was, they were well trained. And judging by the bullet wound, stronger than the regular pony. She doubted that the archive sheltered more ponies, leaving one valid candidate. But "who?" was the easy part of the problem. "Why?" still eluded her. She had some hypothesises, of course she had, but they always get migraine-inducing at some point. Twilight needed some key variables to fully understand what was happening. Massaging her temple, she kept going through the heretics. Twelve of them had been shot from afar. That was more than enough for the Equustode to estimate the position of the sniper. Answers were long due. It was about time to get them.

Twilight left the room, leaving the darkness claim its territory once again.

 

**~o~**

 

Facing a Spacemare was a terrifying prospect. Spike had been in Equustodes' care long enough to know the full extent of their capacities. Yet, here he was, with a handicap to boot.

"I bet Twilight'd have some Codex line or a quote for me," he mused. "Something like 'If your life is given in the service of the Empress, your death shall not be in vain'." Spike frowned at the thought. He'd be glad to die in service of his Lady and the Empress, but he was in no hurry either. Dying here served no purpose at all. "Think Spikey-boy! You've got this!"  

He was up. That was an improvement. His whole body was screaming in pain, but pain he knew. He was still weakened, but the shackled-in-the-bottom-of-sea feeling was fading by the second, washed away by his blood stream. He should be able to walk. His vision was still troubled and his eyes hard to keep open but the room didn't offer much to look at anyway. It was small and darkness too deep for him to pierce veiled most of it, but he still had a clear (or rather not so blurry) sight on the Spacemare.

"Okay. Best get out of here before she notice that I'm up again."

He had no sooner formulated the thought that the Spacemare turned back. He lacked the strength to facepalm himself but he depicted it vividly in his mind. The serf heartbeats echoed in is fins. His muscles twitched, full of adrenaline, ready to fight... The Spacemare was on him before he could react. She was on him before he could even see her move. There was a blur. Then he was between her hooves, being crushed by her unnatural strength.

"Did you see it? Did ya? Did ya?" she asked, shaking him for emphasis.

"Huh?" he tried.

"The fight! It. Was. Amazing! Your mistress was killing them like they were not even there! And then the psyker appeared and your mistress attacked him. Or maybe it was a she I'm not sure, since they didn't have a mane or tail, so it was hard to tell see?"

"Wha-"

"But anyway your mistress attacked but the psyker was shifting in and out of reality so your mistress got really pissed and then she caught him just as he left out of wherever he was hiding and she punched him so hard even I felt it!"

"Wai-"

"Then she grabbed him and asked him where you were. I can say she was pretty pissed because I could hear her from here, and I can tell you we're pretty damn far. That's when the psyker used some sort of spell to chain her, and a cultist tried to shoot her with a big gun."

"Wh-"

"I'm sure she'd have avoided it, but I didn't want to take the chance so I killed him. She was very surprised but she kept fighting and since she knew I was there I told myself 'oh what the buck! I might as well help her!' and then I shot anyone that tried to bother her while she fought. IT. WAS. AMAZING!"

Sensing a pause in the unending flow of words, Spike took his chance : "Wait... Did you say you helped Twilight?"

"Well duh! What did you expect? That I shot her? Don't be silly Spike!"

"You know my name?

"Of course I do! you told it to me yourself!"

"Wha-... Who are you?"

A malicious grin appeared on the mare face. Without a word, she put her hoof on her chest, tapping it, as if to show him something. It took him a second to click.

"No way..."

The grin became a huge smile. She was about to say something when her attention got diverted.

"Oh! She's coming! This is gonna be so exciting! Say, are you feeling better?"

"Well..."- he flexed his arms. The pain and numbness were still present but nothing a good rest wouldn't shake. "I guess I'm okay..."

"Good! Wouldn't want to greet your mistress with you all poisoney and tired would we?"

"I guess not..."

"Here take this," she said while shoving her weapon in his arm. Surprise, poison-induced fatigue and the simple fact that the weapon was twice as big as him almost made him fall.

"Why are you giving me this?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"Well duh! Your mistress is coming and I wouldn't want her to think I'm her enemy!"

There was no arguing there.

 

**~o~**

 

The hoofsteps echoed in the air. The pace was slow and deliberate. The Equustode wanted her arrival to be known. There was not a sound in response, but she knew she was on the right track. Ballistic was not her primary interest but, as in almost all academic fields of study, she excelled in it. And as most of the time, she was right. The room was small, hard to see from afar but giving a excellent vision to anypony going in this direction and, more importantly, it was raised compared to the place where she fought, permitting well adjusted shots from above the shelves.

"Nice..." the unicorn admitted. "I wonder how much time it took to prepare all this."

The Equustode came inside, her weapon glowing. The time for answer was long due.

The room was bigger than she expected. The lack of disorder that characterised the place made it look spacious, despite the presence of two genetically-enhanced mares and a dragon inside. There was plenty of hiding places for weapons and various gears, while permitting it to be easily defended. Twilight guessed there was another entrance, hidden somewhere to permit a swift retreat. This place was well organised. Twilight saw all this and more. But this was all taking place in her subconscious. Right now two things monopolised her attention, competing for her brain power and emotions.

The first stood at her right side in the form of Spike, a sniper rifle too big for him to use in his arms. The dragon seemed fine at the first glance, but his Lady knew better. He was doing a good job at hiding it but he was exhausted. He was stiff and uncomfortable, his legs and arms were quivering at the effort of carrying the gun. His eyes were sightly out of focus and his scales were discoloured at some place. Twilight could list twenty poisons that would do that to him. Fortunately, none of them were lethal nor permanently incapacitating. They looked at each other with a relief they both tried to hide.

"Monitor," she said.

"Lady Twilight Sparke," he answered.

"Are you okay?" she asked, trying to hide her concern.

"Tough as a dragon, my Lady," he smiled, which was code for : "I'm weakened but I'll survive and I can still do my duty".

The hint of a smile appeared on her muzzle. _Good boy_.

It faded as soon as she turned toward the other presence in the room, her frustration overwriting any other emotion.

The pink mare was sit a few meters in the distance, her position relaxed and unthreatening. Her now familiar black cloak was open, revealing a light power armour of the same colour, save for two white shoulder plates, and no weapons. Yet it didn't really appeased Twilight. Even sheathed a sword was still a sword and a Spacemare stayed a killing machine. And just as she had suspected, the pink earth warpony was beyond any doubt a Spacemare.

But it was not the attitude nor the whole situation that was the most unsettling thing for the Equustode. She was prepared for that.

She wish she could have say the same about her identity. Despite the change of mane style and of attire... The size, posture and colour scheme was hard to mistake.

"You have my thanks for your timely intervention," she ventured, trying to open the dialogue. The Spacemare beamed and nodded. "I assume Pain Keeper is not your real name?" she continued.

"You're correct~," the earth pony sang. "Though you can call me this if you want. But my true name's Pinkamena Diane Pie. Or 'Pinkie' for short. Easier to say on the battlefield."

Twilight's eyebrow twitched. "I had a very long and frustrating day, 'Pinkie'," she said as calmly as possible. "I give you a minute to tell me who you are and what this is all about."

Spike tried to warn her mistress of the mistake she was making, but the Spacemare beat him to it. The pink mare smile got broader. She took a deep breath and did exactly what was asked of her.

"It all started when I  was tailing those cultists. Took me months. So I was busy getting clues, doing some sabotages and key eliminations when I learned about your arrival and that you were supposed to check the planetary defences, which had a surprisingly convenient timing, since the cultists were somehow getting more active!"

"Huh?"

"So I prepared everything so you could see how hard I work to keep the planet safe. Then I came toward you but you were all pensive and you said out loud 'All I want now is to report to the Empress.'," she quoted in a perfect Twilight's imitation, " and I was like 'I wouldn't do that if I were you.''

"It was you..."

"Which is true," continued the Spacemare ignoring Twilight interventions, "since I wouldn't have been able to show you my work so if I were you I would have given myself a chance! So as I was about to pick you up and make you come for an ambush on the cultists I lured into the archives, one pony sent a grenade at your hoof."

"Wait..."

"And then you got all flashy and teleporty and you got away with it and it was awesome, but while you were gone, the pegasus, did I mention it was a pegasus? Anyway he drugged your Monitor and tried to kill him, or maybe just capture him for interrogation which is worse since they'd have killed him after anyway."

"Wha-"

"So I had no choice but to intervene since you were all flashing and flying with a grenade. So I killed him and took your Monitor with me so you'd follow me. And it worked! Except when you attacked me... That part was kinda scary. But I survived so it's okay. I guess I should have taken time to explain everything to you but I think I got a little carried away... Anyway, you found the cultists, we killed them and now you're here."

She ended her tirade with a wide smile. Twilight merely blinked, her brain struggling to process the flow of words. The story of the Spacemare made sense. At least the substance of it. Supposing that it was true, there was still some points to check, and it would be easy to confound her if she was lying.

"Let's suppose I believe you," she started, "why are you not on the list of Spacemares I have to check on?"

"Well duh! I am on it! You just didn't check on the right places! What kind of intelligence pony I would be if my name was in the official, easy to access list!"

Twilight nodded slowly, forced to admit there was sense in that logic. But she was still not convinced.

"Can I access those files then?".

"Of course!" the earth pony beamed. "File name : Pinkamena Diane Pie. Access code : 16-1-18-20-25 8-1-18-4. Oh! And don't let the "file not found" fool you."- She whispered loudly with an accomplice posture -"It's just to make sure nopony go pry in there."

"Got that Spike?" Twilight asked, doing her best to ignore the pink mare antic.

"On it."

It took a few seconds for Spike to access the files and find the answers they looked for.

"Pinkamena Diane Pie, Intelligence pony. Specialised in information gathering, infiltration, exfiltration, assassination, troop support, sabotage, trapping, tracking and tailing. In service for eighty-seven years in Ponyville. There's even her old chapter record. Very impressive by the way. I see nothing out of place Lady Twilight."

The unicorn nodded once again.

"Well. I guess you showed me what you're capable of. Keep up the good work. Now I'm going back to my quarter if you don't mind."

"Oh sure! Here, let me guide you!"

Twilight hesitated a moment before agreeing. The mare was not the most sane she'd met, but she appeared to be loyal. That was enough. For now.

"Lead the way, Pinkamena Diane Pie."

"Okidoki. Hey did I told..."

"In silence please."

The now familiar smile appeared on the pink face.

Surprisingly enough, she did exactly just that.

 

 **_____** **_____**

 

 **PV-01  
** **DP Battalion barracks, training grounds**

PDF versus orbital defence had always been a heated point of discussion between strategists. As far as Applejack was concerned, even though the ships in orbit or the pegasus vessels above her head where the first line of defence against threats, it was ultimately up to the DP battalion and the ponies on the ground to make sure the planet would not fall in enemies hooves, hands or claws. To her detriment yet, the regiments on her supervision were seriously lacking. Not in term of equipment (thanks to Rarity) nor  training or fighting will (she had made sure of that). The problem was raw number. It saddened her sometime to see that a few hundred more regulars would just improve the efficiency of the whole place many times over. Unfortunately she was to do without them, and face the fact that the barracks would not be used to its full efficiency. The training ground for instance, would stay desert for hours each days. A waste, often leaving it for the Spacemare alone to use it. It had perks, but she couldn't help but wishing she could do more.

The earth warpony let the thought die and shifted her attention back to the sphere in her hooves. A serie of "bip"s and "clic"s were the only  signs of the Spacemare's work. After a minutes of work, the sphere bipped a few time and shut silent. Given the Spacemare frown it was not the expected result.

"Darnit..." she cursed to herself. "Next time, I'll ask Rarity to use her fancy magic to set up this thingy. This looks way simpler when she does it..."- She let the device fall on the floor, next to the dismantled pieces of her weapon, a disgruntled look on her face. -"I guess I'll go with something else tonight."

In truth, it was not the complexity of the device that caused problems to the mare.

Somepony was watching her. It had just been a gut feeling at first, something she could have dismissed on the visit of the Equustode or the guardsponies around her. But even now that she was alone, she could still feel the skin-crawling touch of ponies glare on her back... And something in her guts told her it was not the usual admiring attention she occasionally got from new bloods. Those were usually bad at hiding and prone to (rather badly) hushed praises on her marksmanship. The silent treatment she was receiving was getting unnerving. Applejack sighed.

"Listen, partner," she articulated to her presumed stalker. "I dunno what you want but I give you ten seconds to get out of here before I make you."

Five second passed without any change.

"Half time."

Four more seconds passed.

"I warned you."

At those words four ponies left their hiding places. Two of them were of the Battalion. She knew them. Twin pegasi, promising but rather discrete, assigned to patrols and scouting. The others were not soldiers. A earth pony and a unicorn. While the former was unknown to her - _probably a miner_ \- she had some vague recollection of the latter. Yet she couldn't place him. They all wore cloaks and bore their best nonchalant faces.

Had somepony came just at that moment, it would have looked like a bunch of fillies caught stealing from the cookie jar. But Applejack knew better. The darkness and the ample clothes could not conceal the weapons underneath. The cold wind of the night could not hide the familiar smell of fear and adrenaline nor could its soft whistling damper their loud heartbeats. They were here for bad reasons, and for the Spacemare it was written all over them like a bad poker face.

"I give you all one chance to explain. You better say the truth."

Nervousness went up a notch. The ponies glanced at each other, daring the other to talk. Finally one of the pegasi tried. "I don't know what you mean we just..."

"I warned you..." interrupted Applejack, shaking her head.

Her twin hearts pumped massive dose of chemicals in her enhanced physiology, as almost a ton of muscles and amour charged. The earth ponies struggled with their clothes, trying to reach the weapon beneath them. They failed. They were dead soon after. The twins fared better. They jumped out of the way of the Spacemare, getting rid of the cloak and taking off in one go. The earth warpony sneered.

 _My training used against me... That's irony for you_.

Applejack assessed the situation.

They'd come prepared. That was obvious. Flying targets were always a pain in the flank to deal with, even with her heavy bolter and right now, she couldn't even count on it. She'd have to do with two defensive grenade and a combat knife. They, on the other hoof, had come with crude plasma pistols. It was time to get creative.

The pegasi knew they had an advantage and they pressed it. Shifting in the air above the mare, they made plasma rain not unlike the paleo weather-control patrols of Canterlot. The Spacemare avoided the shots. It helped that the weapons were of poor craftmanship. And that the twins were simply lousy shots while airborne. Applejack was biding her time, - _a few more shots now_ \- preparing for her counter-attack.

The opportunity came as she expected, in the form of a sudden hiss followed by a cry of pain. There was a pause in the attack. It lasted four seconds. One of the pegasus let go of her overheated weapon, and the other slowed to check on his sister. Four seconds. Instants for a pony in a fight. Hours for an Horsetarte.

The first grenade hit the first one in the face. Shrapnel tore it to shred, killing him right away. The second one detonated next to the other pegasus left wing. The deflagration and shards of metal tore the limb, forcing her on the ground.

Applejack walked to her, neither hurried nor slow. Her calm glaze faced the hate-filled one of the crippled foe.

"You made three mistakes here partner," she started. "One, plasma weapons tend to overheat."- she kicked the fallen plasma pistol nonchalantly. -"Two, youl should have trained more," she continued, now standing next to Chrome Cloud. "And third, -" her hoof lifted above her foe's head "- you should have chosen a better prey."

The hoof fell with a sickening sound.

"Always a uninspired idea to pick on apex predators," added a familiar voice behind her. "Isn't it dear?"

"Better us... than somepony else..." added a vox.

Applejack turned calmly around to face the newcomers. It took her a glance to see they had to face the same... annoyance. Blood soiled the yellow platings of Fluttershy's forelegs. Same as her. As for Rarity, her servo-arms were now equipped with weapons instead of crafting tools. This in itself smelled as bad as timberwolf shit.

"Miss Rarity, Miss Fluttershy," she greeted, acknowledging the Spacemare and Dreadnought.

"Very nice shots Applejack, I must say," praised the Techmare. "Such precision! I feared that you'd require our help but as always your skill is more than enough."

"You're too kind on me. It was stupid of me to be unarmed. Plus I wouldn't have minded the help."

"And sabotage such a skilful display? Nonsense, dear."

"..." buzzed the vox. "We... didn't want to interrupt your fight," said the Dreadnought.

"Don't fret over it. We all fight for the Empress. My fights are yours."

"Well said, darling," commented Rarity, passing a hoof in her mane. "Now do you have any idea of what is happening?"

"Not a bucking clue. I was hoping you'd know."

"..." buzzed the vox.

"I have no idea either. I was mid-maintenance with Fluttershy when a bunch of ruffians barged in my atelier."

"Ouch..."

A feral smile appeared on Rarity's face. "Indeed."

"..." the vox buzzed again.

"These attacks don't bode well. There's something fishy 'bout them."

"You don't say. Attacking the three of us? Looks like someone is trying to sabotage the planetary defences to me."

"Ladies..."

Both Spacemares turned back to the sarcophagus. "Sorry Fluttershy, did you want to say something?"

"Look into the skies..."

"What?" both mares answered as they did exactly that.

"Doesn't it bother that the stars are going out?"

Silence grew thick as they witnessed exactly that.

"That cannot be good."

"Nope. Not good at all."

 

**__________**

 

 **PV-01  
** **Cloudsdale aerial defence base**

"I will not repeat myself anymore, who are you working for?"

The voice thundered into the air, making the walls shudder.

It was easy to forget that Rainbow Dash was a Spacemare. She was always cheerful and so close to the ponies around her that they just forgot her upbringing. Seeing her angry, a mangled pegasus at the end of her hoof, was a brutal reminder to all ponies around her. They were fifty. All the chain of command, crowded around her in a small balcony, barely wide enough to contain them all. Still here they stood. They were witnessing the scene unfolding before their eyes without a word.

"Wanna play tough? Guess what?"

She let the wingless pegasus at the end of her hoof go.

"The ground's tougher."

She didn't even bother watching the fall. Her attention was already on the next pony. The stallion was whimpering pathetically on the ground. He was desperately looking at the soldiers around him, trying to find some help from the mortals. He found none. Only contempt and anger. Yet this seem preferable than to face the Spacemare's glare.

"Look at me," she demanded.

The calm in her voice was somehow scarier than her recent outbursts. The earth pony, a young recruit by the name of Hazy Armour, desperately fought his cowardice and turned his head toward the mare but refused to look into the purple eyes fixing her chest instead.  

"LOOK AT ME TRAITOR!"

The pony instantly lift his eyes. He regretted it instantly. What he saw was disappointment out of any proportion and the death it had brought on him. If only he had not listened to the twins... If only he had come to her... Regrets filled him. It was too late. If only he had come to her.

"Who are you working for. Tell. Me."

"I don't know!" the words left his mouth on their own. "I swear! Chrome Cloud and Steel Wind came to me! They said they worked for the betterment of the Imperium! That the Moon was coming back to bring order and justice into the Galaxy! They told me I could make a difference! I didn't know I would have to do that! That's all I know! I swear!"

"Is that all you know?"

"That's all I know I swear! That's all I know... I swear that's all I know..."

"Good. -" She extended a hoof toward the crowd. "- Soldier, your weapon," she asked to nopony in particular.

A pistol appeared on her hoof an instant later. The barrel was put on the pony's temple.

"No traitor."

Without a hint of hesitation, she pressed the trigger. The detonation resonated in the room, deafening at such a distance but dwarfed by the Spacemare's words. There were few rules under Dash. "No traitor" was the first. The silence grew thick. It took a running mare barging into the open space to break the stillness. She was out of breath and her mane was a mess. By the look of it she had gone through half of Cloudsdale to reach the Spacemare.

"My Lady, I'm sorry to bother you..." she started, between two heavy breaths.

"I'm not in the mood... spit it!" the Spacemare cringed.

"We have a problem..."

"Spit it!"

"The planet is under attack," the messenger gulped.

"What?"

"The Dusk Squadron signalled an attack," she summarised. "There is a huge, still unidentified vessel that appeared in orbit from nowhere. Moreover several of the frigates were boarded by unknown enemies. We suspect an Eldeer attack, but we're waiting confirmation."

The rainbow-maned pegasus frowned. Then regain her calm.

"Okay mares and stallions listen up. I want this whole planet on alert and I want to know exactly what we face as soon as possible."- She turned toward her Communicator. -"You! I want you to contact my Sisters. Tell them I need to see them as soon as possible."

"Sir! Yes, sir!" the pony answered, already opening the communication link.

She turned again, this time toward her second in command.

"Colonel, you're on charge while I'm gone. Do not disappoint me."

"I wouldn't dream of it my Lady," he answered, the scar that barred his face giving his smile a terrifying aspect.

"I know what you dream of and it's not pretty," she joked.

"Except when I dream of you maybe," he countered.

Her signature, confident smile was back again on her face.

"Try not to be too lame, Ivory," she joked as she jumped of the platform.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "The universe has many horrors yet to throw at us. This is not the end of our struggle. This is just the beginning of our crusade to save Ponykind. Be faithful! Be strong! Be vigilant!"  
> \- The Empress


	9. Part One - Chapter 06 - Voices, screams and sacrifices

**PV-01 orbit  
** **Planetary defence vessel _Dusk of Hope_**

It ran, or rather fumbled at very high speed on its way too numerous limbs, inside corridors and through closed doors.

Reality had ceased to make sense. Or maybe It wasn't able to comprehend reality anymore. The constricting walls of the ships had lost part of their substance, leaving room for things that were not from the right side of sanity. The world was now filled with distorted faces, glaring at It with their blank eyes, forever lost and wandering; it was filled with gusts of non existent wind, that would incessantly caress its fur and the skin beneath, drawing a crawl on its fevered skin; it was filled with blood, forever spilled from some unknown wound in the fabric of reality, overloading its heightened smell...

But most of all, it was filled with the voices.

At first, memories would help the creature out of this madness. Memories of another life. Hours ago. Already an aeons to It.

_Doors closing. Anger. Warmth... an artefact? The call of Unspace... And pain... so much excruciating, unending, pain... Then power, flowing inside her... and the voices..._

Now, those were no more than incoherent memory-screams, insufferable white noise for a corrupt brain. Those didn't matter. There were only killing and the objectives. Those were the only things that mattered. Everything else was filled with the voices... The creature ran faster hoping that soldiers would somehow try to catch It. Gods, It would even turn back on its hooves and claws, if only It could somehow kill the ponies It had already slain. Killing always soothed the voices. They left It alone when it killed. But they'd always come back. No escape. You can't run from the voices. They were always here. They always found you. They never really stopped.

"Running from me Scream?" said one-of-the-voices.

"Shut up!" It shouted.

"Oh sorry... do I bother you?" that-particular-voice continued.

"Shut up!"

Somewhere in the distance, another voice screamed. That voice always screamed.

"I feel like I'm bothering you".

"SHUT. UP!"

"If I'm bothering you, you just have to say it."

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

The voice chuckled. "Make me!"

"Pox I swear..."

A voice shouted its devotion to the ruinous powers. That one was the less nerve grating of the lot.

"What?" mocked the voice "If I don't shut up, you'll exert your Ô frightening wrath on poor little old me? But guess what? YOU CAN'T!"

"SHUT UP!"

"Face it Death Scream! You're trapped with me for as long as it pleases me and oh by the Nine Heads of Nurgle do I love it!"

"SHUT UP! BY THE GODS SHUT UP!"

"Call them as much as you want, Scream. I. Am. Not. Leaving. You will suffer my presence and I will enjoy every seconds of it."

It-that-had-been-Death-Scream shrieked. And it didn't stop.

The-voice-of-Small-Pox laughed. And it didn't stop.

 

**~o~**

 

Rolling Die was caught in a loop.

Send a message to the vessels via the emergency communicator. Wait the authorised time. Check on the augur. Wait some more. Get no answer. Signal it to the room. Back to the beginning.

Her task had never left room for much initiative nor change, but THIS was getting ridiculous. Yet she repeated the set of instructions. It somehow managed to keep her distracted from the reality outside of the screens. The familiar buzzing of the command deck was becoming alien to her. Something akin to despair and anger was spoiling it. She hated it. So she focused on her task, akin to the lobotomised ponies around her. Do steps one to six. Loop to step one. The mare clenched her teeth as she launched yet another scan. This was so infuriating! Surely something could be done! She took a glance at Typhoon Snivel, momentarily snapping from her trance.

And for an instant, everything was back to normal. The Captain was watching over them, and the Empress over him. He looked as calm and resolute as ever. A rock even in the midst of a tempest. His red, artificial, lenses pierced the room, checking each and everypony, assessing their work... Just as usual. His flask was back at his at his side, untouched. Everything was going to be okay. Everything _was_ okay.

The unicorn's eyes locked with her and she realised she had forget about her routine. She didn't waver though. She peered into the augmentics, looking for a sign. Anything. Anything at all.

"Is something the matter operator?"

If the eyes were the windows of the soul, the optics were foggy tinted one at best. One thing transpired from them however. Unwavering resolution.

"No-nothing." she stuttered, taking her attention back to the screen. "Nothing, sir. Still no answer."

Everything was going to be okay. She had to believe that.

 

**~**

 

"How much time do we have until it reach the bridge?" Typhoon asked the closest servitor.

"Estimations give us between thirty-one and one hundred and seventy-one minutes, sir," the pony recited in its monocord, robotic, voice.

"Where is it now?"

"Energy readings : two-hundred meters from the sector D13, Warp drives. Fifty-two metres margin of error. Sound screenings : one-hundred and eighty four metres meters from the sector D13, Warp drives. Fourteen meters margin of error. Vibration sensors..."

Typhoon Snivel ignored the rest of the servitor's listing. He was already lost in his thoughts.

Locking the ship had had little success. It had stopped the thing for a moment but the creature was intent in making a mockery of the captain's efforts. After half an hour of respite, it had started cut through the reinforced doors. Ultimately it had simply stopped to care and got through them, butchering anypony in its way. So far it had gone through the communication centre and was heading to the Warp engines. He didn't know why and he didn't care. He had to find a way to stop the creature before it decided to come here.

His face stayed stoic as his mind raced, trying to find a way out. There was always a way. What stopped most ponies from seeing it was the price to pay to reach it. To win required sacrifices. He had learned this lesson the hard way. His metallic legs were a grim reminder of the price one sometimes had to pay, to ensure others would not have to. Thus Typhoon Snivel, captain of the Dusk of Hope, was slowly raising his bets. He checked on his crew with a neutral face, while gauging the value of their life as well as his. Seconds (minutes? hours?) passed as he did that. Somehow, he doubted that even the thousands of ponies present would suffice. The creature would massacre them all. The small hallways would become its playground and the bigger rooms would just give it more opportunities to wreck havoc in the ship.

He had to see bigger. It didn't like what he saw.

"Sir. It has reached the Warp Drive."

There was an ominous moment of silence. All faces turned toward the captain, waiting his order. To his relief, his mask was still in place. He spoke slowly, with a calm that didn't reflect his current state of mind :

"Gather all the troops and all the servitors we can afford to lose to the Sector D12, D11, E13 and C13. Only maintain whoever is vital to keep the ship alive, preferably servitors. Prepare everypony else for evacuation. We will have only one shot at this."

All the ponies present acknowledged and relayed his orders. Relief and excitement had momentarily overrode fear.

There was no turning back now.

 

**~o~**

 

The Warp engines could be felt before they would be seen. Even dormant, their roars echoed hundreds of metres in the distance, like the snoring of some gigantic sleeping beasts. As one would get closer, they would smell the thick odour of the sacred oils used by the Marechanicum to anoint, bless and maintain the holy machines and the spirit that inhabited them. But those, as impressive as they were, were dwarfed by the sight of the machinery. Pillars (so high their summit had to be guessed rather than seen) vibrated in the air, making it dense, filled with a low unequine note. They would sometimes discharge in the air, spewing lightning and hot plasma-like matter on another pillar. The sight would be beautiful and humbling, if a mortal eye could stand such a fiery display. Ponykind had grasped the galaxy thanks to these machineries. In return they screamed their pride with an overloading nonchalance.

The creature didn't care. None of that mattered. It wasn't paying attention to the noise, the rumble nor the lightning. Even the servitors around It barely managed to catch its attention. The abomination killed them by reflex more than intent. None of those things mattered for It felt none of them. The madness around her had left place to something else. There was no blood, no faces and no voices. Only the thousand-sun brilliance emanating from the room. It-that-had-changed stumbled in the room, a sudden weakness invading its body.

The memory-screams were more focused now. They were almost understandable.

It-she had to be here. It-she had to bring something here. Something that pulsed inside it-her, filled its-her body with unholy vigour. It-Death-Scream approached the closest pillar and felt the influence of the Warp pour out of it-her body toward the engines.

The promise of freedom put an ugly smile on it-her deformed head.

 

 

**~o~**

 

Newly promoted Sergeant Starry Glow damned her bad luck. First they were boarded by some damn abomination. Then Sergeant Hard Diamond, Lance Steel, Wintersong and Onyx Sky died. Making her the troop leader by default.

"As if I would want it!" she thought bitterly "The four previous died less than two hours ago, by the stars!"

Yet there were nothing she could do about it. Only take the title and obey orders.

"Stupid Hard Diamond and his principles," she complained in her breath. "Everypony should do their share! I will go as any of you!" she mimicked. "Great good it has done him! Dead, and all his closest ponies with him! Stupid idealist fool... Now what? I must somehow be good enough, be better than the four of you, and try not to die?"

There was a pause in the rant as the pegasus penetrated her new room. It was just as she remembered it. Clean and tidy, just as Hard Diamond's mind. A small desk resided in the centre of the room, some files carefully disposed on it. Apart from that, were a small bed, a mirror and four boxes. She ignored the boxes. She could guess their content and she was in no hurry to verify her hypothesis. She instead went closer to the mirror, checking her reflection. she put a hoof on it, as to comfort the midnight-blue pegasus in front of her. She let her head touch the glass, creating a wall of white hair between her and the desperate-looking mare in the mirror.

"To protect the vessel..." she chastised herself softly. "You have to be good enough to protect the vessel. There's more than your life at stake here..."

The mare took a deep breath to calm her mind. She had to get a grip on herself. After all, she might face the Empress judgement soon. She'd better do her best and, maybe, her bravery would turn the mind-eye of the Empress on her?

_One can dream._

The moody pegasus finally reached to the boxes, finding the personal belongings of her predecessors. There was not much. Some personalised pieces of equipment, decorations (a few) and trinkets of personal importance (fewer). Their whole life was now summarized here. Starry Glow dodged the morbid train of thoughts before it got to her. She also chose to ignore the fact that her new flak armour had been Lance Steel's. Among the deceased leaders, Lance Steel "luckily" had both wings and her body type. Hard Diamond and Onyx Sky were both bulky earth pony. Even her wings wouldn't cover the gap in size. Not that she would try, the simple idea of having them trapped made her claustrophobic. She didn't even bother considering Wintersong for her gear. The slim unicorn was simply not an option.

She was (to her shame) getting used to it. The protection was sightly bulkier than her old counterpart, yet it almost felt lighter. Signs of its better craftsponyship were subtle but noticeable. Same could be told for the rest of her new gear. From her boot to the assault shotgun of her deceased peers, she felt like a whole new pony. In the outside anyway. For a second she had considered letting these, by respect for the dead, if not _not_ to be seen as an opportunist by her ponies. Pragmatism had got the better of her. Stupid ideals were, after all, what killed her predecessors.

Starry Glow waited a minute in front of the door leading to the soldiers quarters. It took a couple of deep breath to calm her nerves enough to be able to open it.

The sight inside made her consider leaving. This was not going to be easy. She fought the concern invading her face as best as she could. A quarter of the troop was missing. It was hard enough that the leaders had been killed... Everypony here had lost comrades in arm. The empty spaces were useless and painful reminders. She slowly got to the centre of the room, watching the soldiers. Her soldiers. They were staring at her too. They were counting on her, expecting her to... do something.

_Empress! Sergeant Diamond did you have to face that every time we had to fight?_

She faced their stare. Grief and reluctance were on most faces. Fear too. Some managed to make a resolute expression but they were lost in a sea of defeated-looking ponies. For a moment she wondered which face she was making. She left the question aside, afraid to know the answer. She was the troop leader now. Her job now was to put a brave face and make believe.

"Fillies and colts." she started, trying to emulate the example her predecessors, "you know the orders, but I'll repeat them anyway. Our mission is to engage the creature, if we're the lucky one who find it, and to lure it to the prepared location. Then it's straight to fall back position. We do it good, we do it fast and we all can brag about it later. Kinda like your imaginary sex life."

She had added the last sentence in her breath, not really willing to share the jest with anypony else. To her surprise, the front row started to laugh. It spreads rapidly to the whole assembly. It was not much. Small chuckles and enthusiast smirks, but it didn't matter to Starry Glow. The tension was gone.

"Stars... _This_ worked?" she mused. "Maybe I can do it after all..."

The mare looked at the mares and stallions in front of them. They looked more determined now. So was she.

"Soldiers. Time to go."

 

 

**~o~**

 

Existence was changing around around Death Scream. It was turning back. The world was now slowly regaining sense, sometimes tainted with flashes of otherworldly insanity. Like a dark night illuminated by a passing thunderstorm.

She was still unsure about what happened. Death Scream had been a Spacemare for centuries. In this laps of time, she had witnessed unfathomable atrocities. She had inflicted her fair share of them in the name of the Gods. She thought she was jaded. Yet she was not in no hurry to dig further into the matter. She didn't even want to think about it... The voices were gone... That's al that mattered.

 

 

**~o~**

 

The invader was and hideous parody of ponykind. Twice as big as a pony and as wide as it was tall, covered with appendages and tentacles and awkwardly standing on seven? eight? ten? legs. The picture was completed by several little heads resting on elongated necks, akin to tentacles, hovering around the main one. Like a council whispering advice to their ruler. It was the stuff of nightmares, it was merely thirty metres apart and it was infecting the machinery with tendrils of foul energy flowing from it to the closest engine, altering it in some nefarious ways. And it was spreading. Each time the generator discharged, it pulsed with the same miasma the creature was pouring into it.

Starry Glow was observing it with horror and fascination. Her hoof gripped her weapon a little tighter. The creature had not noticed them yet. Seven squads had been sent to "make contact" with the creature. Starry Glow thought that the odd would somehow tip in her favour for once. This was not her day. Ten minutes had been enough to confirm its presence, making them the brave, "willing", souls that would be lucky enough to engage it.

"Awesome..." she muttered despite herself.

Everypony was getting into position. Taking advantage of the cover the room provided. Starry took a quick glance at them

"Wait my signal," she ordered with a gesture of her hoof.

 

 

**~o~**

 

Death Scream was getting close to her release. The energy that had accumulated in her was withering. She could even feel her body weaken and quake as the unholy powers that sustained her new, deformed, metabolism faded. It didn't matter right now. A few more seconds now and she would be free. Soon... Another discharge of plasma illuminated the room as if to celebrate her liberation. The abomination got on her hindlimbs and lashed out, screaming, in joy this time, and flaying her many legs in the air.

Death Scream felt the burns with an almost comical surprise. Starry Glow didn't fare much better. Laser weapons are quiet ones. Yet the shots somehow silenced the room.

Creature and Sergeant turned at the same time, astonished. Both were watching the same pony. The Sergeant was not even sure the pony in question was the only one to have shot or even if she had shot at all. The only thing pointing to her was her weapon, resting uselessly at her hooves. The small trembling pegasus was watching the beast with fright. What could have gone through this fickle mind the recently promoted officer wondered. Was she looking for fame? Did she panic? What in the Empress' name made her screw up so bucking hard? She raised her head, catching the incredulous glare of the creature and gulped.

The mutant Spacemare was experiencing new levels of fury. Inside her, something snapped. She could feel the Aether flow in her once again, alimented by her rage, which in turn made her even more angry. The taste of her denied freedom was still lingering on her tongue. It tasted like ash and broken promises.

"Hello Death Scream." mocked a familiar voice. "Did you miss me?"

It-that-rages shrieked.

The unequine sound hit the troop like a shock wave, shattering cohesion and discipline.

Starry Glow didn't realised she was running. Not before she heard the sound of crushed bones and tore flesh. They were all fleeing. She could not see them, but she could feel them. A scream echoed behind her. The beast was closing on them. It was closing on her. The pegasus ran. Her wings were glued on her back. So she ran. Her lungs were filled with fire, her muscles with molten lead and her fur with warm sweat. But she, and all her troop, ran. For stopping meant death. So they fled through corridors and narrow halls. And the creature picked them. One. By. One. And every time she wondered if she was the next.

The abomination ran, its disproportionate and difformed body barely fitting in the corridors. Small creatures (ponies? ants?) ran in front of It. Somehow, their existence was an offence to the creature. Their screams, their disgusting smell of fear polluting the air... It had to erase them from existence. Maybe this sacrifice would appease the voices? It-that-rages caught an ant-pony with a barbed tendril. The limb sank deep in the meat, crushing the muscles muscles beneath. The ant-pony whelped in surprise as pain flooded their nervous system. More tentacles, hooves and claws, talons and paws, limbs of every sorts grabbed. The ant-pony squirmed against the grip, only making it stronger. Flesh and bones started to break and blood leaked through every orifice it could find. Blood egressed through the tight grip. A smile grew on the creature's heads. There was a wet muted sound as the clench tightened tenfold. Pulp, flesh and broken bones rained on the creature.

"That... felt... good." The thought-scream emerged somewhere in the consciousness of the beast. "Again."

Starry Glow had lost track of time. Her desperate escape was punctuated by the loud pounding of her heart and the audible death of her soldiers. The only thing that mattered now was to arrive at one of the rendez-vous point. She couldn't be far!

There was a turn. And a pony died.

There was another turn. Another pony died.

Two other ponies died in the long corridor that followed. Starry Glow's heart was about to burst.

There was another turn... and she was there.

She almost fell. Relief almost overriding her of her surviving instinct. Almost. She kept going. Her body pleaded for her to stop, but she continued. Dozens of servitors flooded the place and opened the way above her and closed right after she passed. Her prize was at hoof, right behind the corner, only a dozen metres left. The creature was getting close. She could hear the new slaughter starting right behind her. The mutant rage seemed fuelled by new victims, rather than appeased. Starry Glow dragged her body along the wall, her body heavier by the second. It took her an eternity to reach to passage, and two more to get passed it, but she did.

The wall shut behind her. There was no sound. The mare kept going, shuffling in the empty corridors. She had to evacuate the ship.

Newly promoted Sergeant Starry Glow started to cry. She was the only survivor of her troop.

 

**~o~**

 

Typhoon Snivel listened to the vox with undivided attention. He listened to ponies dying in the line of duty. He didn't shy away from the graphic imagery these small bit of communication evoked. It was the least he could do to honour the sacrifice he asked of them.

Despite a few hiccups, the first part of his plan had worked. The creature was so engrossed with its massacres that it wouldn't even stop to think. The captain had already managed to make it follow a closed circuit, giving him and the crew more than enough time to evacuate the perimeter. Now was the moment to end this.

"Start phase two," he ordered. "I want everyone out of here in ten minutes."

Everypony obeyed without asking questions.

_Empress protect us._

 

**~o~**

 

The abomination ran in the corridors, going from a senseless butchery to another. The ants-ponies were barely a challenge but it didn't matter. It had to kill. To soothe the voices. So mindless ants-ponies died. Small packs of them, erring every few hundred metres. And it would kill them and run to the next pack. But it was not enough. Not anymore. The snicker was back.

"I can't believe it! -" The voice laughed as if knowing some joke it refused to share. "- I knew you were stupid but this? This is priceless!"

It-that-errs didn't listen and killed one of the last servitor of the pack.

"Hehe! This is going to be funny."

Another servitor died.

"Wait for it."

Only two servitors remained.

"Just a little more."

The last mindless ant-pony fell, destroyed beyond recognition. The creature left its play ground full of broken toys an followed the corridor for another kill. The most annoying voice burst into a laugher that eclipsed all the previous ones. The Chaos-teinted Sparcemare paused, intrigued. The laughter last. Long. It finally stopped.

"You... you didn't realise didn't you?" the voice seemed genuinely baffled. "Here... let me show you."

It felt its body being pulled forward. It didn't resist. Maybe it was surprise, or curiosity. The voice dragged It inside the vessel walls. So lost It had been in its frenzy that It had forgotten that adamantium panels were no barrier for it. It didn't have to walk long. The place was not far. It could feel it before It saw it. Even corrupted, the Warp drives still roared. The Chaos-distorted brain clicked discordantly. It had been lured. Like a mere ant-pony.

"No! Nonono! Death scream!" the voice sneered. "Ponies have brains. Simple, archaic brains but still brains. You've been lured like the stupid moron you are!"

The creature didn't answer. For the first time since its creation, anger didn't make It lash out. It was still more wrathful by the second but this time it was focused. A simple thought emerged. The Captain of the ship had to die. It didn't know what a "Captain" was. It didn't care. It had to find him and kill him. And somehow It knew where to look.

It-that-seeks dashed through the vessel and for once, the voices stayed silent.

 

**~o~**

 

 

The plan was bold.

 _'Borderline suicidal' would be a more appropriate descriptor_.

But just as its inceptor, it was brilliant and efficient; or so thought Rolling Die. But to trap and end a creature able to go through walls and an insatiable hunger for ponies flesh, one had to go with a little part of craziness in their plan. That was the part Rolling Die had to supervise. Out of all the members of the bridge still equipped with a brain, Rolling Die had been the one "randomly" chosen to prepare the last part of the plan. It was obvious that she would be : there was no random with her, she was always picked. There was no avoiding it. Whether it was for a menial task or the most important assignment, her name was the one that would be called in the end. Which didn't prevent her superior to still resort to random pick. Whether it was for their sick amusement or to break the spell (which from her standpoint, was the same thing) she had no idea. For once, however, she didn't mind. She wanted to carry Typhoon Snivel orders. Furthermore it was an easy task. Directing serfs was repetitive at worst but in no way as boring as her previous, tedious work on the Augur. All she had to do was to collect enough promethium to put a reasonable part of the ship on fire. And luckily burn the creature to the ground and send it back to the Chaos pit it should never have gone out of.

_Yeah. This is crazy._

Her communicator came alive, breaking her daydreaming.

"Operator!" Typhoon Snivel worried tone pierced through the distortion with ease. This Immediately put the mare on edge.

"Rolling Die, report-" she started.

"No time for that!" he interrupted abruptly. "Are you done yet?"

"Wha- Sir! We just started! We barely have enough to light the way for the creature!"

"Damnit!"

Years in his service. She had never heard him swear.

"Sir? What's wrong?"

"The plan is a bust. The creature is heading to the bridge. It will be there in less than twenty minutes."

"Sir, you need to evacuate!"

"I can't! -" The unicorn took a deep breath. "- Put me through the general channel. We need to find a solution. Ten minutes ago would be great."

Rolling Die did as asked. Her mind was light years away. New voices came live in the channel, giving birth to a heated debate. They were probably devising a new plan of action. She wasn't really following it, in fact she was barely aware of it. The Operator's mind was elsewhere completely. It was racing at a fevered pace on uncharted territories. An idea was emerging inside it, an horrible yet effective idea.

"We should send it back..."

The sudden silence made her realise she'd vocalised her thought. The Operator bit her lips, hoping they would ignore her. They didn't.

"Explain yourself." The voice of the Captain was calm again. Rolling Die liked him for it. Yet this time, it only made her hate herself. She would not escape.

"No! Huh... It's a stupid idea, sir. Forget I said anything."

"What is it?"

"It's a stupid idea, sir," she repeated. "And that's an understatement," she added mentally.

"Tell me."

"Sir... I can't..."

"Operator Rolling Die. Tell me. That's an order."

"We could sent it back to space..."

"Go on."

"By piercing a hole in the hull."

There was no laughter nor scream of outrage as she thought there would be. Only another silence.

"This could work," the Captain said. Rolling Die was regretting her mere existence now.

"Sir?" came a voice in the vox.

"This could work. The bridge is close to the hull so it's doable. We only need a weapon capable of breaching it."

"We... could throw one of the evacuation ship on it?" the Operator suggested.

_No sense in stopping now..._

"Excellent thinking, Operator."

"With all due respect, sir, I feel anything but clever right now." she muttered.

"It doesn't matter," he said softly. "Do what you must. You have five minutes. Snivel out."

She turned around and started to work.

 

**~o~**

 

The creature was hesitating.

This, was new. It was like an unscratchable itch inside its head. An urge to do something that it could not. Even the voices were silent. Even the-voice-that-mocks. It was breathing heavily in a corner of its head, its endless babble stuck in its throat. The doors were open. They'd been open for It. This did not mattered at all, yet it showed that something had changed. The insufferable itch became more insistent.

The voxes buzzed. It was a soft noise. Like a persistent bug, nagging the edge of what could count as the beast consciousness. But it soothed the itch. So the creature stopped, and listened. The message didn't come through immediately. After several seconds (minutes? hours?) it started to get agitated again, but its patience (or lack of impatience) paid.

The voice was calm and noble. It was a voice used to be listened to and obeyed. It had already heard voices like that. It hated them. Voices like that made It be here. Made It BE. Anger rose again. And the voices grew in strength with it.

"Creature." said the voxes in their calm _infuriating_ voice. "I am Typhoon Snivel. I am the captain of this vessel, which you boarded, sabotaged and which crew you slaughtered _kill! maim!_. You are an enemy of the Imperium and as such it is my duty to eliminate you. But as captain of the Dusk of Hope, it will be my pleasure _endless! endless pleasure!_."

It snarled madly.

In the distance, several door opened soundly. "Come _yes he comes, soon_. Come creature. Come face your punishment."

It-that-hates ran.

"It's a trap and you're a moron, Scream," stated the voice.

 

**~o~**

 

Rolling Die, and a consequent part of the crew, watched the Dusk of Hope. It had been her home for so long she had almost forgot what it was. Now, with the frigate revealed once more in its whole glory, she felt like she took it for granted... and the exact opposite. When she was inside, it fell like her whole world. It _WAS_ her whole world. Now, as the ship drifted in the distance, she found hard to believe so. In all her immensity, in all her grandeur, with her tarnished adamantium plates, her frightful armament, her powerful plasma thrusters... she was just a small frigate drifting in the void, only maintained alive by remnants of her crew. And that ship was now on collision course with another equally small frigate.

The Dusk of Hope, her home, was now a dying husk sent to die in a suicide mission. And she had permitted that the ship would be crippled further.

The small escaping ship cruising out of formation was now almost unrecognisable. Yet she knew well where it was going. Rolling Die felt no comfort with the presence of the crew watching the spectacle with her. From the moment she had programmed the servitors, she was alone. She alone had to bear the guilt.

 

 

**~o~**

 

Snivel and the creature were facing each other. Eighty metres of corridors separated them now. They both looked at each other, both unimpressed and scornful. The time for a long due reckoning was a mere seconds away.

The creature started its awkward lunge aiming for its prey...

At the other side, the officer drew his plasma pistol. It was a beautiful weapon, given for his services by the Marechanicum. His hoof grabbed the handle firmly, while his magic stabilised the weapon. Just like training. It feels strange to use the weapon after so much time. To use it at all. With a soft buzz, the weapon shot. Super heated matter flew toward...

The creature ran, appendages ready to strike. Something hot crashed on them. Pain came and went, but the rage subsisted. Half the distance had already been covered. Another shot came crashing into it, cutting a tentacle. It snarled and kept running. Soon it would be able to catch...

Captain Typhoon Snivel kept shooting at the beast, a quiet resignation invading his body. He hoped they could have done it in time, but...

There had been no signs. No sound. It just happened. One moment the creature was running. The next everything was crashing around It. Gravity ceased instantly. Instead, It felt a violent pull from above. Cuts and burns and shock pummelled the deformed body. It could not react nor understand. The last thing it saw before space claimed it for good was...

A satisfied smile flourished on Typhoon Snivel's muzzle. He was not one to bask into his own accomplishment, especially with such a heavy cost, but there was something pleasing about dragging the creature along the path he had chosen. This was the kind of revenge he could enjoy. The door shut. Fortunately for him, the servos had not been damaged by the crash. The same could not be said for his legs.

It was an odd thing to see the bionics broken. This time, he felt no pain nor sense of loss. They were just... broken pieces of metal attached to his chest, trapped under some rumble. Captain Typhoon Snivel absent-mindedly detached the prosthesis out of his body. Two ethereal limbs appeared in their stead. It had been years since he had not used this spell. Somehow, it feel better. Captain Typhoon Snivel took his rightful place on the bridge. For once, he indulged himself on the captain throne. He gave his orders. They were simple. Full thruster. Impact point chosen. Everything was in order. Captain Typhoon Snivel would die soon. But he didn't care. He had done his job. And where he was going, there was no coffee.

 

**__________**

 

In the endless void, a creature drifted away.

The lack or air, the void and freezing cold were barely enough to hinder its supernatural regeneration. The creature was alive and trapped in a prison made of nothing. But the void was not the worst thing. The void was silent.

"OH GODS IT BURNS!"

"Well, well, well. Once again you prove your stupidity Scream..."

"He's coming. Oh yes he's coming."

It-that-drift said nothing.

"KILL! MAIM! KILL!"

"Well maybe after a century or two you will start to show signs of intelligence."

"AAAAAAAAAH!"

It stayed silent.

"OH GODS! MAKE IT STOP!"

"After all we will likely spend a long, long time together."

"SKULLS! FOR THE SKULLS THRONE!"

In the endless void, a it-that-had-been-Death-Scream tried to scream. But in the endless void, there is no air to scream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Long shall be your suffering. Joyous be your pain."  
> \- Asteroth, Daemon Prince of Slaaneigh
> 
> "Let us play hide and slay!"  
> \- The Nine Heads of Nurgle
> 
> "There is no price too high to pay for the Imperium."  
> \- Captain Typhoon Snivel.


	10. Part One - Interlude 02 - No more Hope I

**PV-01 Orbit**

Fifty-three vessels fled the _Dusk of Hope_. Fifty-one flew in tight formation descending to the planet their flagship was supervising. One collided  with the hull, sending a warp-abomination in the void and trapping the captain of the _Dusk_ inside. The remaining vessel followed the frigate. Inside this vessel were only one mare and three servitors. Contrary to the rest of the crew, she had to carry some orders before leaving, making here quite alone in the ship. Which was exactly what she wanted at this instant.

Rolling Die struggled with the communicator, failing to do what she had trained to do even in her sleep. She very vocally blamed the primitive communicator for her difficulties. Once again, the activity kept her brain from assessing the recent turn of events. Digits and codes didn't judge. A satisfying series of bips finally indicated her that the communication was established.

The face of her captain appeared on the screen, distorted and blurry.

A pang of guilt stung her as she saw how tried he looked. Captain Typhoon Snivel had visibly been through Tartarus. His uniform was torn in several places, revealing deep cuts in his maroon fur, sometimes sinking in its flesh. Half dried blood had dripped from a cut on his face and his bionic legs were gone, replaced by the golden aura of his magic. Sat tiredly on his throne, he looked as if he had to carry the ship on his back. But his augmented eyes were as sharp as ever. They seemed to pierce even the static to reach her soul. Despite the situation, he was still the proud, calm stallion that had led the Dusk of Hope and three vessels before toward victories against impossible odds. It made her proud. Then guilty again.

"Hello, sir..."

Typhoon Snivel had not expected any transmission. He had imagined his death lonely, accompanied by the soft buzz of the servitors around him. As dutiful as they were, their conversation skills were pretty lacking. It took him a second to react to the attempt of communication. A few more to remember that he had no operator to take it for him. A few more again for his magic to do the unusual job. The screen shimmered to life. Several moment passed before the connection was established. A familiar face appeared on the screen. The unicorn had wondered who would have contacted him. All things considered, seeing his operator appear on the screen didn't surprise him much. It was oddly fitting that it would be her.

"Hello, operator."

For an moment, there was no words. The situation was unfamiliar. There was no order to be given or received. There was in fact, no captain nor operator. Only Typhoon Snivel and Rolling Die. Something in this pleased the unicorn. It was his last moments. There were worst ways to spend them. So Typhoon Snivel watched the mare. For once returning the attentive glare she'd send him when she thought he would not pay attention.

She was rather small, quite the common thing for pegasi spending too much time in artificial gravity. Yet, basic military training had given her enough muscles to make her look stocky rather than sickly. Her short grass-green mane was messy. Maybe messier than usual, which admittedly was not an easy feat. He couldn't discern her coat due to the static, but he was sure her yellow fur was in the same state. Black spots (of promethium he guessed) riddled her uniform and wings, like the spots of the fawns of old Canterlot. She looked ragged and exhausted, but these were expectable. Her apparent resignation was not.

"What owe me the pleasure Rolling Die?" he tried.

The pegasus became stiff at the mention of her name. She looked for accusation in it, in the tone. She was surprised to find none.

"I came... I mean..." she stuttered. It was even harder than in her head.

"I don't mind to wait for you to find your words," he laughed softly, "but I don't think the _Dusk_ will be be very compliant in this."

"Sorry, sir!"

The unicorn laughed softly, causing more confusion to the pegasus. She took a deep breath and finally spoke.

"I came to apologize, sir."

"Apologize?" he exclaimed. "What for?"

"I trapped you here captain..."

Typhoon Snivel stayed silent. Yes. It would make sense the she'd believe that.

"The Imperium will lose a hero today, sir... And I cannot help but feel responsible... sir."

"Yes the Imperium may have lost that today. -" There was a pause. Typhoon watched in the distance a moment, then looked at his Operator. She looked pitiful now. Typhoon Snivel was not soft with his crew. He knew them as his own foals, knew all their strengths and flaws and treated them fairly. But he stayed distant. He never closed the gap for he feared exactly that. That feelings and regrets may one day come in opposition to duty. Maybe there was a lesson to teach before he died. "- Yet I do believe that it didn't lose all his brilliant contributors."

"Sir?"

"There were more than a thousand souls on the Dusk of Hope. More than one hundred still with their brain. Today, your contribution helped saving most of them. Maybe I could have done it without you raising the alarm for an insignificant surge in the shields. Maybe I could have been able to send the abomination in space on my own. But I was not on my own. You made it possible for me to react fast and efficiently. Just as intended."

"Sir, I-"

"And it all came at the cost of a hoofful of lifes."

"But-"

"And I do not even take into account PV-01. Nor the countless souls we may have saved. Thanks to these sacrifices."

Silence again. The message was starting to get to her, but the officer was not quite finished yet.

"Beside. You didn't condemn me. I never intended to leave the ship to begin with."

"What? Why?"

The officer smiled, his face merely choosing a pose rather than expressing a feeling. "Whatever attacked the _Dusk_ , the _Crusader_ , the _Rettribution_ and the _Barriere_ wanted them still able to function. They wanted them intact save for the warp-engines. I do not know why and I do not care. They wanted it that way, then we don't. Are you following me?"

"I suppose..."

"There was no way we could have destroyed all four ships. One. Maybe two. Then they would have reacted and probably stopped us..."

"So ramming the Crusader is a good way to get rid of half their prize... before they could raise the alert..."

Typhoon Snivel smiled and nodded. "I could have send the _Dusk_ on the _Tartarus_ and leave the ship. Why do you think I didn't?"

Rolling Die thought about it a second. The answer came up pretty quickly.

"Because they could send another creature..."

"See? You get it."

"But-"

"No buts Rolling Die. If I had had more time or knew exactly what we were facing, I could have think of something else, but it was not the case. I did my best. We all did."

She pondered upon it. Then answer. There was more strength behind the words this time. "Yes, sir."

Silence grew thick again. This time however, it carried no shame nor awkwardness. It was the comfortable silent born from a discussion where everything important had been successfully conveyed.

"Sir?" Rolling Die asked, finally breaking the lull. "Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did." The tone was serious, the smirk on his face was not.

"Sorry..."

"You already used your quota of sorries for this discussion Die," he jested. "Come on. Ask away."

"So- I mean... Yes sir," she smiled. "You- you hate coffee right?"

"I taste as if the foulest part of the warp had pissed in water and dubbed it a healthy drink," he stated plainly, enticing a laugh to his operator.

"Then... why do you drink it?" she asked, still giggling. "You always have this flask full of it and you always drink it when things get bad."

"Because..." he started.

Captain Typhoon Snivel pondered upon it. The answer was obvious, but the correct words eluded him. He looked at his screens. The Crusader took all the place in it now. How much time did he have left? Ten minutes? Half an hour? Funny how his own death looked so distant despite its imminence. Typhoon looked back at his Operator. The silence stayed unbroken for several seconds. Then the captain talked, his voice as calm and resolute as ever.

"Because, it's a small price to pay for the Imperium."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "We commend our souls to the Empress. Let the story of our sacrifice burn across history like a shooting star."  
> \- Ultramares Veteran Sergeant Purging Light
> 
> "One cannot consider the fate of a single pony, nor ten, nor a thousand. Billions will live or die by our actions here, and we have not the luxury to count the cost."  
> \- Inquisitor Kryptmare


	11. Part One - Interlude 02 - No more Hope II

**PV-01 orbit  
** **Luna's Bats battle barge _Somnum Extereri_**

The _Somnum Extereri_ invaded Ponyville sensors with the nonchalence of a predator approaching a herd of preys. Alarms came to live inside the remaining Dusk Squadron's ships as well as on the surface  several places as the battle barge signature flooded the sensors with threat warnings. In orbit, six captains shivered at the sight of the bulky battle barge. On the surface, messages were frentically relayed to assess the status of the ship and its allegiance. Everypony sensed the coming of an all too recurrent storm.

This vessel was carrying the promise of incoming war.

From her throne, Moon Terror was watching the planet and its defence with fascination. Such a small world. With so many things at stakes. Like yet another offence to the Warmistress legacy, the key to her liberation and imprisonment lied not in a heavily fortified system... but in a backwater farm planet guarded by a dozen of ships and a hoofful of gardsponies. Her pragmatism was fighting her pride in a battle of conflicting feelings. A truce was quickly decided : crushing this planet would be enough to satisfy both. The Sorcerer was smiling smugly at her side, annoyingly taking the place she'd only allow to her second in command.

"Your plan has worked so far, Sorcerer," she started, not even looking at him. "At the cost of two squads. I hope, for you, that your information are correct."

"They are, Champion," he smirked. Her annoyance at the title never ceased to amuse him.

"Such certitude..."

"I made sure never to disappoint, Champion. And you"- he insisted on the last word -"made it clear that my very life depended on it. This display of power is no longer necessary, I assure you. Our goals are the same."

"So you say."

"So I say, and so I intent to prove. -" The Sorcerer sensed the defiance in the Spacemare but didn't take offence. She would be a fool to trust him, just as he would be a fool to overestimate his status on board. His glare went from the Spacemare to the holoscreen showing the system. There was an amazing amount of information displayed. For an instant the stallion marvelled at the the warmare, able to follow the conversation and the endless stream at the same time.  Soon his attention drifted to four lonely vessels out of their formations. Nothing particular marked them out of the ordinary. But the Sorcerer could feel the flow of the Immaterium pushing them toward their destination. The Convergence drew closer by the second.  "- There are few constants in this universe but the return of the Warmistress suffers no doubts," he mused.

"We will see."

"Yes we will. It is just a matter of time."

Moon Terror looked at the spectacle unfolding before her. She didn't understand the underlying current of fate, or whatever the Sorcerer called them, driving them, but she had to acknowledge the fact that things were eerily similar to his predictions. Soon the four ships would be in position. Just like he said. His prophecies had been extremely accurate so far. More than most psyker she had ever encountered. This, was the reason she valued him enough to tolerate his impudence. His words carried truth, not hazy possibilities blurred with interpretations.

"When will the rest of the fleet arrive?" she asked out of the blue.

"This, I cannot say..." admitted the sorcerer. A good point for him in the eye of the Spacemare.

"The Convergence will staturate the Empyrean with energy. My vision passing this point is blurry."

"Is that so?" she teased.

An exasperate sigh almost left the psyker's muzzle. He caught it in time. He was not that confident in the Spacemare trust yet. "Imagine looking at the sun and trying to grasp the shape of the clouds around it, or the stars behind it," he explained patiently. "All you can see is the sun itself. Looking past it is a task I am not capable of doing. I'm but an humble initiate of the matters of the warp," he jested with a mock bow. "I can barely predict the galactic event of the millennium. Sorry to disappoint."

To his surprise, she smiled. It was not much, but the corner of her mouth were definitely higher than usual.

"Can you at least tell me if there will be there before the Imperium reinforcement?" she asked earnestly.

"I can lie to you, if that is what you wish."

"It was worth a shot, I guess." she said, her tone returning to her formal neutral indifference.

Both equines turned toward the screen. Watching the spacial ballet before them. Three ships drifted lazily in space, in appearance devoid of goal, while a fourth one was hurling itself on of them. The impact was imminent. Seconds passed. And the ship collided. The two ships disappeared from the screen. A word of Moon Terror switched the tactical view for <a normal one>. The explosion was barely visible in the distance. A star among others in the dark sky. It got bigger. Soon it rivalled with the pale red orb in the distance and it still got bigger. A white fiery wound in the fabric of space. And the Warp bled through it.

The Sorcerer smiled. "It has begun."

 

 

**~o~**

 

Space rippled as energy poured through and from the Warp. Unspace bled, deversing its unnatural colours on the black canvas.

The closest ship to the impact, an almost empty evacuation vessel did suffer no ill effect. The ship disappeared, only to reappear seconds later in the orbit of a small, wild planet. The other evacuation ships in the system were not so lucky. Out of fifty, nine disappeared in the warp, never to be seen again. Two aged in a matter of seconds, centuries taking hold of them, leaving only drifting wrecks filled with ghostly whispers. Thirty-three suffered massive dysfunctions from their crews as well as the electronics inside. The unlucky one erred in space, never to be rescued. Others saw their crew poisoned or asphyxiated by failing ventilation system. The lucky ones simply got destroyed by malfunctions, preserving the ponies inside from a slow and painful death. _Evacuation vessels 04_ , _09_ , _19_ , _03_ , _15_ , _18_ and _44_ did not suffer any anomaly, but the crew inside became the playthings of the inhabitant of the Immaterium. None survived.

The Dusk Squadron's frigates felt the effect of the warp too. Yet most of them ignored it, trying to cope with the very tangible threat that the Spacemare battle barge represented. Only one captain had the hindsight to raise the Gellar field. Unfortunately, several technical problems and instability in space prevented him from communicating the information. On the verge of battle, each of the imperial vessels would fight alone. And crippled.

On the surface of PV-01, the effects of the breach were milder, yet, undeniable. As the stars in the sky disappeared, swallowed by the warp, a few ponies died of terror, seeing things better left unseen by mortal eyes. Others fell to madness, taunted by voices and sights their mind could not comprehend. Some of them ended their life. Other began to kill, in a misguided attempt of mercy. Those strong enough to resist the call of the Warp became taunted by vision of a future yet to come. Blessed were those who did hear the call of daemonkind.

Yet another kind of madness was coming to their world. This kind armed with zeal and heavy weapons and defended by power armours and fanaticism. It came from vessels, drop pods and infiltrated cultists.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Let the Galaxy burn."  
> \- The Warmistress


	12. Part One - Chapter 07 - Untrustworthy

**PV-01  
** **Communication array plazza**

To Twilight's surprise, going back to her quarter had been fast and easy. The emergency run from there to the urban battlefields, not so much. Twilight had, once again, to delay her long due meeting with scrolls (and tomes (and dataslates)) to keep up with the planet's... interferences.

_If I had any doubt, now I know. This, is punishment._

Lasgun shots flew  around her. She ignored them. Absent-mindedly, she sent her staff above her head. The weapon flew with a high pitch note which ended with the wet sound of flesh perforated. A scream pierced the night briefly, quickly replaced by war cries and detonations. The soldiers gathered around her did their best to secure the perimeter, but the area faced severe "disruptions".

Messages, coming from the different skirmish fronts and command hubs, were erupting without pause in her vox, completed by the occasional Spike's input and the endless data stream of her retinal display. Each second added new information or modified the importance or content of previous data. Still, the Equustode filtered and analysed them, with the ease born of experience and mental conditioning.

Two cultist incursions in the north of town; small pockets of civil resistance in the south, waiting for military support; four instances of betrayal among the military officers, crippling several key points of the defence, including Cloudsdale orbital cannon; enemy vessels were about to enter the atmosphere, drop pods would likely follow; the Dusk Squadron was about to engage, with little to no chance of victory; enemy group spotted fifty-seven metres direction south-south-west: another group of traitors spotted north of the town...

She let the flow pass through her. Her attention was entirely focused on one fact. The communication array was still operational. She had to access it before the enemy sabotage it too. She had to warn the...

"Equustode?"

The voice startled her. She had not sensed Pinkamena coming next to her.

"Yes?"

"The way's open," she said, her voice lacking her natural enthusiasm. "Do I really have to wait here?"

"Yes. Make sure the area is clear. Do not let anyone inside."

"What about the others?"

Twilight only thought about it for a second. "I'll contact them later."

Had she paid attention, she would have seen reluctance in the warmare's body language. But Twilight wasn't paying attention. She barely registered Pinkie's salute as she passed her. She barely noticed the communication runes bipping. This planet, this seemingly unsignificant planet was under attack by renegades, cultists and traitors while the stars above were swallowed by a rift in space. This was not a coincidence. This could not be. The Warmistress was coming back here and now and she needed to alert the Throne as soon a possible.

 

 

**~o~**

 

A sentiment of perplexity was plaguing Rarity's mind. And this was affecting her work, adding lag and imperfection that she needed to correct as she went. Yet, she let the thought process go its way. Inspiration and illumination always came to her while she worked, and today, despite the unique urgency of the situation, was no exception. She was on the verge of a breakthrough and one minute and twenty-seven seconds delay out of several hours of works were well within the authorised margin of error. All in all, an acceptable trade-off.

So Rarity pondered, while her artificial limbs soothed the machine spirit of a shield generator. Data streamed in her head, drawing a mental map of the situation which ultimately left her frustrated and unsatisfied. Something was not quite not right with this assault. The enemy cruelly lacked cohesion, or objectives, yet, they had efficiently disabled several key parts of the defence, most of them pivotal to prevent orbital assault and planetary invasion. This attack was irrational and inelegant, and, in any other situation Rarity would have let it at that, putting it on the chaotic nature of the cultists. But this did not fit with the presence of the Spacemares in orbit nor the stellar event above. There was something. Something ominous. _Something bad_. There was a missing piece somewhere and she had a hunch, that some details she had overlooked were the key to understand it.

_The details. Everything resides in the details._

A flurry of binary code signalled her that her servitors were done with their part of the maintenance. The power station would be working in a matter of minutes. By impulse more than need, Rarity checked the next sites in need of her touch.

This made the metaphorical cogs in her mind click.

"Ponyssiah..."

The word slipped through her muzzle with the strength of a curse. Pieces fell into place. Questions she had not even thought about arose, leading to more elements of answer. Frantically, she checked the records of the attacks and sabotages and the maintenance records of the previous years.

The missing piece revealed its ugly frame as Rarity dug deeper and deeper into it. Soon she arrived to the end of the information available to her, but she kept looking, bipping and buzzing demands... For a few seconds, information filled the room in the form of vocalised machine language. Then, it stopped, almost as soon as it started. When it ended, Rarity had the answers she so dearly wished. And she did not like them.

_Who would make such a contraption? Why?_

Rarity didn't enquire further. Time was of the essence.

 

 

**~o~**

 

"Applejack," Rarity had asked, "I need you to find Fluttershy and bring her to the rendez-vous point as soon as possible."

"How hard can it be to find a giant, armored, rampaging, sarcophagus?" Applejack had though at that moment.

As she ran into the street, Applejack found herself reevaluating her statement. Following Fluttershy's trail had been either predictably easy or unfuriatingly frustrating. Fluttershy would go straight toward a group of enemies crush them and then go to the next... It would, and should, have been easy... save for her power jumps above the crumbled walls of the town. Applejack was forced to guess her general direction and follow it, often having to get back on her tracks.

The terrain was also a problem. In top of slowing her, the maze of walls and the narrow, turning, streets made her armament marginally suited to the situation, forcing her to use close combat weaponry. Her combat knife and her power hooves were soaked with the blood of the heretics she'd encountered, while her heavy bolter and munition belt hung tightly on her back, unused.

"T'is Timberwolf hunt all over again..."

The trail was becoming warmer however. Quite literally sometimes, when the prometheum of Fluttershy's flame-thrower lived its last instants. She could sometimes hear the heavy noise of hydraulics reverberating in the streets. Soon she would get a visual too. Hopefully things would get simpler then...

 

 

**~o~**

 

The orbital defences were down. Despite their best efforts, they could not have stopped the endless waves of foes that had submerged them. The rest had been a matter of time. Now the fight was on the streets... For a time she'd try to repel them, but they were everywhere.

Where were her sisters in battle? They had to be close... They needed to regroup and organise. Where were her sisters? They were probably as busy fighting as she was. She looked at the crushed foes at her hooves. She didn't like to fight alone. Spacemares should not stay alone. Where were her sisters?

"Fluttershy?"

"Sister!" she called, without facing the newcomer. "Where are the others? The griffons are coming. We need to regroup."

There was no answer.

"Sister?"

Fluttershy slowly turned toward the voice. Her body was heavy and distant as she did so. She felt clunky and big for some reasons, but far from deprived of power from it. Quite the contrary in fact... It was an odd dichotomy for her. To feel strong and powerless at the same time. Yet, she turned. Her sister was waiting expectantly behind her. Who was she? She did not recognised her... Fluttershy tried to wipe the sweat and blood from her face. Her hoof hit her head with a heavy "clung".

Confusion.

"Fluttershy..." said the Spacemare with hints of concern.

That voice... she knew it. She could almost remember her name.

"Come back, Fluttershy..." the voice asked. "We need you."

Fluttershy watched her intensely. For a moment, she wondered why her sister would wear the Timberwolf colours and armoury. She tried to extend her hoof to reach her... then hit the glass of her amniotic chamber.

Reality struck her like nutrient fluids on a dying corpse.

"Applejack," she uttered, breaking free of her reverie.

"You okay, Sugarcube?"

The vox buzzed a moment, but no words came out. Applejack said nothing.

"I am," Fluttershy finally answered.

"We need your help."

"What... do you need me for?" the dreadnought asked.

"We need to go to the Communication Tower, ASAP. Rarity think something's happening there."

Applejack looked around her with an annoyed expression. Fluttershy had lead her quite far from the rendez-vous point. Reaching it quickly by conventional roads would be a bore. Fluttershy saw the frustration in her sister.

"I know a shortcut," she said softly. "Follow me. If you don't mind."

"Lead the way Sugarcube." Applejack answered with a smile.

The dreadnought slowly shifted toward the communication array, facing the walls of a building.

"Stay close."

Fluttershy braced herself; her massive servos and mechanisms ground into position, then locked. Applejack took place behind the immobile hulk of adamantium, ready for what was coming next.

_My sisters count on me..._

Fluttershy started moving. The stone of the pavement exploded under the pressure, sending debris flying all around. Her speed almost took Applejack by surprise, not so much because of the dreadnought actual speed, but because it had come with no transition. The behemoth had not immobile, then, at one undetermined point in time, was charging forward.

The building faced the charge with the resistance of dense air. The hulking body tore through it without even slowing. No. It was gaining speed, reaching a pace close to that of a running Spacemare, not slowed not phased by it in the slightest. The second wall had the same lack of effect.

And so did all those between their position and their target.

 

 

**~o~**

 

Rainbow Dash fell like a rock. The noise of the engines on her back suddenly replaced by the howling wind. Despite the height, she could still see her objective, almost a mile below her. She kept falling, faster and faster, her superequine body facing the increasing wind pressure with with ease. For such a little fall, her armour wasn't even needed to compensate, so she shut the system up so she could enjoy the experience to the fullest.

She was a few hundred metres above her target now. She was close enough to hear the raging noise of the battlefield, the screams of the fighters, the percussions of the guns, the deep baritone of the explosions, the rumble the vehicles, the whistling counterpoint of the lasfire... In this fleeting moment, war was a symphony played by instruments made to kill. Gravity kept her in its grip. She soon reached her terminal velocity. Her wings, folded on her back, only gave the slightest, subtlest, touches to keep her on track. The battlefield under her become narrower and narrower as she closed to her destination. She could distinctly see the traitors group closing in to the guards, ready to ambush them. None seemed to have noticed her. Death was silently coming to them, in the form of a falling blue and black meteor of bio-engineered flesh and retribution wrapped into deadly machinery and armour. Rainbow Dash chose her victim. A bulging earth pony wearing chaos signs on their fur. Their body language and the attitude of the other cultists pointed them as the leader of this pack. Rainbow Dash was less than one hundred metres above when one of the ponies noticed her. Incredulity, shock, and terror flashed into their eyes as they realised their incoming death. In the less than two seconds it took the Spacemare to reach them, Rainbow Dash pivoted and reactivated her jetpack, just long enough to make the landing bearable by her armoured body. The brutal deceleration hit her, sending even more adrenaline and stimulant into her blood stream.

_Aw yeah!_

The pegasus impacted the stallion, utterly pulverising him. The resulting shock wave and the flames from the engines sent everypony flying around.

It would have taken a long time to shook off the confusion created by the light, noise and fumes of the engine. Even more so, to get passed the physical trauma of having being sent violently into a collision course with the ground or a wall. For a few of them, there was  the she additional burden of having seen their leader being crushed to a bloody pulp by a falling killing machine. Unfortunately for them, Rainbow Dash was not a very patient nor a forgiving pony. They were promptly executed.

"Purge all traitors," she muttered.

"According to my last estimates," the voice of Rarity announced on her now unmuted vox, "you are 0.00595901117% closer to your goal. Do you want me to calculate the time needed to accomplish this? And the number of times I will have to repair your aparatus from your reckless and non conform use of it?"

"No thanks, Rarity," she grumbled back.

The unicorn had often complained about how often Rainbow Dash would have to come back for maintenance and how much stress she was putting on her "apathingy". Even in the middle of a war she would complain about this...

_Gee, maybe we should let Rarity loose among the enemy and let her sermon them to death._

She looked around her. The platoon of soldiers kept going. One of them recognised her and made a quick salute. She returned it.

"What I'd want is our defense at full power so we can wipe them out. How's it going?"

"Good." Rarity answered. "However," she continued, "I have bad news."

"How bad?"

"Bad enough for me to ask you to ignore safety protocols."

"Okay, that's pretty serious," she fought with concern. "What do I do?" she asked.

"I want you to go to these coordinates as fast as possible."

The set of digit prompted on her retinal display. The position indicated was far. Very far.

"Huh... That's at the other side of the town." pointed the rainbow maned Spacemare.

"All the more reason for you, to go there as fast as possible," Rarity replied. "I'll brief you as soon as possible. Now please go."

"Okay, I'm going."

The vox crackled and shut down, leaving Rainbow once again alone with the cacophony of the battlefield.

"What the heck is happening?" she muttered as she took off.

 

 

**~o~**

 

Pinkie Pie was bored.

Despite her best effort to find something to enjoy about the situation, she was still, deeply, bored. She'd try to play hide and kill with her foes, but it had rapidly proven pointless. The traitors were just bad at it. They'd constantly try to kill her instead of hiding, ruining all the fun of the chase. Now all the enemies in the area were dead or too far away for her to catch them without leaving her post. Pinkie Pie comforted herself by saying that it was that many heretics and traitors that the planet wouldn't have to worry about. But she was still bored. The ponies around her were rather content of their situation, much to her dismay.

"Well duh! Obviously guardsponies would be glad to guard something," she rambled to herself. "I'm not made for this! I'm so bored! Guarding a place is boring!"

"Why, by the Empress, would YOU do something like that?" ask the dumbfounded voice of Rarity in her vox.

"I know right?" the pink warmare answered, utterly unphased by Rarity's unannounced interruption. "I mean why would I, Pinkamena Diane Pie, expert in sabotage and harassment guard some place without moving? But it was an order, Rarity... A direct order even! I can't go and disobey a direct order because I don't like it... except if there's obviously something wrong with it. In that case, I guess I would have to disobey, because the Empress goes first."

"Hum, darling?"

"But then again, maybe they'd know something I don't. Like that Equustode. I'm pretty sure she's hiding something from us, but I don't know what it is, or else she wouldn't be hiding it from me, she would just think she would be hiding things from me, while in fact I would know it all, and then I would know if I should obey or not. Like when you know there's an ambush and you counter it by showing up ultra prepared."

"Speaking of ambush..."

"So that's why I'm guarding the communication tower. Because I don't know if the Equustode is hiding a good secret, like the activation code of the Empress armoury, or if she's hiding a bad secret, like she could totally be a spy. Not that I think she's a spy. Or maybe SHE IS a spy. A pretty good one."

"Are you finished?" calmly asked the Techmare.

"I am," Pinkie Pie answered, nodding her head heavily.

"Pinkie, you're at the central communication array is that right?"

"Yepper."

"Are you with the Equustode?" Rarity asked, increasingly worried.

"She went inside to deliver an important message. Or so she told me."

"How long has she been inside?" the techmare enquired.

"Twenty-three minutes," she answered instantly. "Why?"

"Oh Ponyssiah... Pinkie, it's a trap. You have to warn her! Now!"

"But my orders..."

"Are not going to be very relevant is she dies anyway, darling."

"You mean I can move from my spot and actually do something?"

"Absolutely."

"Rarity?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

 

 

**~o~**

 

 **PV-01  
** **Communication tower**

Bolters' barks echoed into the room. The thick cover shook. Spike waited for the "clics" of bolters magazines being ejected to fire with his own weapon. He wouldn't get his head out of cover, firing blindly at the assailants. Screams of pain rewarded the effort. Two hits. Not bad.

"You know Twilight, this situation seems to happen a lot since we've been here." Spike deadpaned.

Another group of cultists tried to reach them. Three precise shots from Spike's gun made them rethink their plan. A golden blade definitely put an end to it.

"Not now Spike," Twilight answered.

The bolters barked again. The fortune barricade shook. Pieces of rockcrete and metal rattled on the floor.

"I'm just saying maybe there's something we're doing wrong."

The fire concentrated on the weak point. It was just a question of time before the cover became as effective as a sheet of paper.

"Not. Now. Spike."

Spike didn't insist any further. Whether it was because he was busy firing at their assailants or because of the order didn't matter to Twilight. She needed to think and had not a lot of time to do so. They needed an way to complete their mission and get out of here. There were at least thirty-seven ponies, thirty-two after the last attack. But they were a minor threat, an inconvenience at best. The true problem was the squad of Spacemares. Twilight had identified them quite easily. The night blue armours, adorned with bat wings above a full moon, designed them as members of the Luna's Bat. She had expected the Night Legion but, in hindsight, their identity should not have been a surprise.

This invasion force had appeared out of nowhere once they had tried to send their message. Twilight doubted they were discret enough to have sneaked up on her. There was clearly magic at play or something similar.

Another bolter shot made the crumbling wall shatter a little more. Time was fleeing.

Twilight took a deep, calming, breath.

_First. Assessing the situation._

Getting out of cover was too risky right now. But she wouldn't need it. Her weapon was more than enough. A thought wiped the blood out of the blade of her staff, making the blade as shiny as the golden metal it was made of. The blade flashed quickly above the baricade. Too fast, even for the surequine reflexes of the Spacemares in the distance. Twilight's brain reconstructed the scene instantly from the fragments of reflection. The enemy formed an arc, slowly closing on their position. The non augmented ponies were in the front, serving as flesh shield to already armoured warmares. They were patient, they took their time. Whoever their leader may be, she had gave them good instructions. None of them seemed to be unicorn or psychicly active, however, which explained why their approach was so blunt and unsurprising. This gave Twilight an advantage. A slight one.

_Second. Devise a plan of action._

Twilight did her best with the little time she had. She needed to get out of cover, before it became an unescapable trap. There were three exits. One was not only too far, but behind the enemy. The second, on her right was the closest, but totally out of sight. The perfect set-up for yet another trap. The last, on the left, was visible and accessible, but it was a twenty metre run completely exposed. They'd need a distraction to reach it.

_Third. Act._

"Spike. When you see the opportunity, run toward the exit on the left. Find another way to send a message to the Empress."

There was the slightest hesitation in Spike's voice. "Sure, but I don't think those ponies will agree to let me that kind of opportunity."

"I'll create it for you. Be ready."

The wall shook again. It would not last another round of bolter fusillade. It was already fortunate it didn't collapse at the first few shots. But she still didn't move. She waited. Next to her, Spike readied himself for what was to come. The reloading noise was heard once again.

And then, Twilight struck.

All of them were wary of an attack of course, they'd been fool not to. The reason why they didn't react efficiently was simple. They were not good enough. Too unimaginative, too slow... Twilight's attack came from the right side, where they would hinder each other. The Spacemare she teleported next to was reloading. She reacted instantly, dropping her gun for her chain blade, as lavender light flashed at her side. It only took her an instant to do so. An single, fleeting instant.

A golden blade pierced her hearts before she could even activate her weapon. Her body tried futilely to fight the mortal wound as the Spacemare tried to raise her blade. Twilight fixed the mare in the eye, through the optics of her night blue, skull-like helmet. The blade sliced its way out. Blood bubbled out of her mouth grill as her body went limp. Twilight's magical grip extended, covering not only her blade, but the entirety of the body of her foe. With a thought, she placed it between her and the incoming bolter fire. Explosive rounds came crashing upon the renegade body, sending chunks of ceramite, flesh and bone flying. Twilight's gritted her teeth at the impact and charged. Her horn surged again gaining control of her victim's bolter and firing blindly. The shot made a few marks in the crowd of unaugmented ponies. Not enough, but it definitely drew all the attention toward her.

The Luna's Bat squadron reacted instantly, the group moving on its own to face the threat, like a finely tuned machinery. The closest Spacemare charged, while her sisters pined the Equustode behind the carcass. The Spacemare collided with the obstacle with enough force to stop a tank, sending it flying into the air. In a fluid motion the Spacemare shot a quick burst of bolter shots. The projectiles flew across the room and hit a wall. Her foe was gone. There was a flash behind her. Two ponies died before she turned toward the Equustode. Their gaze met. The elusive unicorn was gone before she could raise her weapon again. Cold sweat ran through the Bat's fur.

Twilight hit and ran, teleporting in and out of the fight, delivering only one blow before flashing out. Soon a dozen ponies and three of their augmented counterparts laid dead on the ground. Almost all of them showed several cut on their armour or flesh. Every one in the room waited anxiously the next flash, trying to catch the golden warmare, without any hint of success. Twilight, on the other side, was untouchable and untouched. The unicorn was a an ethereal blade in the midst of the enemy. She was also running on fumes. Teleportation was akin to drag her own body with her magic while in apnea. Constantly fighting while doing so was pushing even her physiology to its limits. Still she had no other options available. She had to buy Spike as much time as possible. The irony of the situation was definitely not lost on her.

_My endurance is lacking. I need to train more._

She flashed again, aiming at one of the already injured Bat. She aimed at her leg, in a vicious feint. The Spacemare didn't bite and deflected the blow. Weapons aimed at Twilight once again, but she was already gone. Her attacks were less and less effective. She needed to break the pace. Twilight steeled herself as more magic surged into the horn. Faster than ever before, she flashed all around the room, in a dizzying display. A few ponies tried to catch her only wasting more bullet in the air. Then, suddenly, the mare disappeared. There was a pause. All looked around, searching for the foe that had been harassing them so far... But the Equustode was nowhere to be found...

_I don't see Spike anymore. Good. Time to attack._

A warning scream resonated in the room. One of the cultist pointed in the air. Eight heavy gun went up, searching. Once again, they were too slow. Atop of her staff, blade pointed toward the ground, Twilight fell, right on her target. Magic pulled her body even faster toward the ground, compensating for the lack of speed. There was a very satisfying "crack", as the blade pierced the plate. The Spacemare body immediately stopped moving, her spine severed by the impact. Twilight smiled. She was now in the middle of the fray, with almost no Spacemare around her. Just as intended. Her horn lit up again. But this time, there was no flash of light. Instead, three bolter rose from the ground. To her great satisfaction she heard a deep voice utter two delightful words.

"Oh shit..."

The bolters fired in perfect harmony. The shot were loosely aimed, but there was no need to aim in this configuration. The explosive rounds carved grossly into the colony of traitors. The squad took cover while firing at her, mostly hitting their followers. Twilight started to run, getting in the thick of the crowd, her blade barely moved, due the strain of using so many weapons at once, but it was enough to get rid of any cultist daring enough to get close.

_I really need to train more..._

Another Spacemare, and a dozen more ponies, laid dead or dying when the ammunition count of the last bolter finally reached zero.

Magic gathered in her horn again, the complex, yet familiar, patterns of the teleportation spell burning into her mind, shortening the distance between her and her target. She felt her body losing consistence while she was getting dragged toward her destination... then a shock on her flank grounded her into the world. The spell disappeared and the magic fizzled into the air, lost and useless.

Twilight reacted immediately. Her hind hoof struck the stallion right in the barrel, sending him flying. Another pony tried to come at her, a blunt weapon in his mouth. A lasgun came to life, enveloped in purple magic. A few well aimed shots later, he laid dead on the ground. Twilight tried to teleport again, but another blow disturbed her concentration. Now caught in the middle of the fray, Twilight struggled to use her long weapon and gather enough time to get out. She got rid of the ponies, and tried again, only to be pinned into place by a bolter shell. The projectile detonated, cracking her armour on the side. The shock hit her. Hard. Fortunately for her the weapon stayed mute. Empty magazine. She tried to get to cover, but three Spacemares circled her, pressuring her. In a normal situation, the fight would have been perfectly acceptable for Twilight. Hard, but acceptable nonetheless. But she was tired and outnumbered. This fight, she had no guarantee to win.

Twilight needed time and space and her foes were determined not to let her get any of those. She needed something, anything, to shift the balance of the fight long enough to give her an opportunity.

And she got just that.

There were five detonations.

The first two were short and soft, followed by coughs and surprised screams. Not wearing her helmet, she sensed the aggressive smell of tear gas filling the air. Her superior organs filtered it out before it could affect her.

The following explosions were more conventional. Hard and loud. Those were followed by a different kind screams, filled with pain.

Twilight got the second she needed. With a roar, she charged forward, into the thick of the cloud. There she started to gather her magic again. As she selected a destination, a voice echoed in her vox.

"Up!" the voice demanded.

Twilight train of thought stopped. The voice resonated loud and clear in her mind. This time the magic flew without an hitch. Twilight found herself airborne once again. Under her, the traitors and cultists were struggling to keep their cohesion inside the grey cloud of smoke. Still, Twilight could feel several guns of all sort and size pointed in her general direction. She braced for impact.

It came in an unexpected fashion. Rainbow-propelled and fast.

"Gotcha!" Rainbow Dash shouted. Twilight need not see her face to know she was grinning.

Both mare got on the ground swiftly. Rainbow immediately flew back into the fray, but Twilight took a second to analyse the situation. Between now and the moment the grenades detonated, the situation had been entirely reversed. Disoriented by the smokes, the ponies now deterred their mistresses, fumbling and coughing. The Spacemares should have fared way better but something seemed to interfere with their retinal displays and sensors, forcing them to rely solely on hearing. But this was only the tip of the iceberg. Somehow, without being heard or seen, a Dreadnought and a devastator Spacemare had join the fray.

"How?...", Twilight thought aloud.

"Well duh!" said a familiar voice beside her. "I'm the best ambush planer on this planet!" A shot punctuated her declaration.

"But how?"

"Easy Peasy! One smoke grenade, one PPG, that's for Pinkie Pie Glitter by the way, grenade, three frak grenades, one remote detonator, and a little game of Red Light, Green Light not to draw any attention!" she quickly enumerate while aiming for another shot. "Oh! And my cloaking device helps a lot too!" she said pointing her cloak.

The unicorn was at loss for words. Pinkie shot and another pony hit the ground.

"Okaydokay-quustode! Let's clean this place up!"

Twilight slowly nodded and got to that.

 

 

 

**__________**

 

 **PV-01 orbit  
** **Luna's Bats battle barge, Somnum Extereri**

Night Terror watched the scene with apparent detachment.

The glowing rift into space showed her several facets of the fight at the same time. Like a broken mirror would show several sightly different reflections. It had started with ten different angles. Ten shards of reality embedded in one. One for each of the Spacemares forming the Sleepless squad. Now, only seven remained and one of them was getting dimmer by the second.

The squad was retreating. Calmly. Night Terror ought to be proud. They had always been a good group. Crimson had always been a reliable Sergeant. She already knew replacing her would be a difficult task.

If only she could have sent reinforcement... But those damn loyalist had shut the signal. The warmare mentally shove the thought aside. There was nothing to do about it now. Now she needed to get ready for the Warmistress return.

"Is there any way to listen to what is said?" the Spacemare asked, her gaze still fixated on the fight.

"The short answer is no," the psyker smugly answered.

The Spacemare didn't react. He had somehow hoped to raise her curiosity but once again, his "Champion" didn't rose to the bait. He brushed aside his frustration.

"I won't bore you with the details, Champion," he added, "but hearing could be hazardous."

"Limitations to your powers, Sorcerer?" she asked calmly.

The psyker smirked. "I am afraid so. The Resurgence prove to be quite the hindrance to my powers..." He would not answer to her banter. "Though... there is more preoccupying than that isn't it?"

"An Equustode," she nodded reluctantly.

"It is proof that the Elements are nearby."

Another Bat died. Only five remained.

"Are you asking me, Sorcerer?" she inquired, small hints of anger oozing in her words.

"I already told you the Elements null my powers. If the oracles are true, this is how they work and why they exist in the first place. If I could find them that way, the psychic pets of the Night Legion could have done so too."

Another Spacemare died. Night Terror gritted her teeth. Sensing her discomfort, the Sorcerer kept talking, trying to push what he perceived as an advantage.

"Still... an Equustode. Alone it would already have been a threat to your mares but now..."

"I do not want to discuss it, Sorcerer."

The Sorcerer felt it. Licks of angers poisoning the air, like the remains of a perfume in an empty room. It was faint, but for the Spacemare's control to slip enough to let him perceive it... it was quite something. The psyker enjoyed the feeling, almost feeding out of it. He hardly contained his grin. He really wanted to see the facade slip. He waited. Soon another Spacemare died, charred into nothingness. Casually he continued.

"I was told once that failure is never an option. I wonder how..."

The words died in his throat, crushed by an oversized hoof. He haven't even seen her move... even with his powers, he had not even SENSED her move! A moment she was next to him, the next he was hanging at the end of her hoof. He instinctively reached for the limb, struggling, scratching. Suddenly remembering that his life was also in the balance.

"Cha... champ..."

The words eluded him. Air eluded him. The Spacemare watched him squirm at the end of her hoof with complete and utter lack of passion. In that instant, the Sorcerer wondered if he had not overestimated his importance.

Another Spacemare died. Only one remained. Slowly, Night Terror flexed her arm, bringing the stallion's face a few inches from hers.

"Do not, ever, try to bait me into soiling my mares with your taint," she hissed. "Never again."

As suddenly as he had left the ground, the Sorcerer found himself back on it. He whizzed and coughed. Night Terror didn't even spare another glance at him. She watched as the last warmare died, a golden blade slicing through armour and flesh. The vision blurred and disappeared at this point, the source of its power now extinguished. She stared a few seconds into the empty space then left, leaving the Sorcerer panting weakly on the ground.

 

 

**__________**

 

The fight ended quickly. Without the advantage of number and surprise, the Luna's Bats' quickly found themselves overwhelmed, and with the help of Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, this had been more akin to a meticulous work of extermination than a fair fight.

"You okay Equustode?" Applejack asked Twilight.

"How did you know I needed help?" she answered, while cleaning her blade.

"Well Rarity warned us about a trap and told us to go as fast as possible here," Applejack shrugged. "So here we are."

"You're welcome by the way," added Rainbow Dash, hovering above the battlefield.

"Thank you for your help," Twilight conceded. She looked around and saw no sign of the unicorn. "Where's Rarity by the way?"

"I'm here, darling," the techmare replied, entering the room. Everypony looked at her with different degree of surprise, going from Rainbow Dash's amused smirk to the gleeful smile of Pinkie Pie with a side of Applejack raised eyebrow.

"What a timely arrival..." mocked the cyan pegasus.

"A Lady should know when to make her entrance," she said playing with her mane. "Furthermore, I was not idle while you fought. I made sure the signal was permanently shut off." Rarity spared a glance at the carnage. "And it's not like you needed me after all."

"A signal?" Twilight asked. "What do you mean?"

"Someone has trafficked the array in such a way that it would send a signal serving as a teleportation lock," she explained. "I admit it is my fault for not seeing it sooner, but for my defence, they have been at it for years. They were very careful. It seems they were expecting someone to actually send a message rather than rely on the automated alert."

Twilight pondered on this. So that is how they had managed to take her by surprise. This, however rose even more questions. Like how and why were they expecting her? There was something to dig here. They wanted to stop her from sending the message and were ready to go to great length to do so. Hopefully Spike had had more chance...

"Wait, when did you suppress the signal?"

"Four minutes and twenty-seven seconds ago to be precise," the white unicorn answered.

Around the time Spike left the room so...

"I need to go check on my serf," she excused herself.

"I'm here my Lady," Spike answered from across the room.

She turned toward him, hiding her relief. "Are you okay Spike?"

"Yes my Lady, but we may have a problem."

"Of course we have," she thought bitterly. "What it is?" she asked.

"The message won't get through," he explained. "I guess whatever that thing in the sky is, it messes with our communications. I suppose we should consider ourself lucky it doesn't affect the voxes either."

Twilight thought about it. "Could a power surge help us get us through?"

"I... I suppose it could. Lady Rarity would know better than me but I guess it could work."

All eyes turned toward the techmare. She slowly nodded. "I could work. It would ask a lot of energy to be effective within acceptable margins however. More energy than our generators could deliver in our... current, forgive the pun, situation. I would also like to point out that such a use of the array could severely deteriorate it."

"Wait, what do you mean?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"She means that we should have to divert the energy from somewhere."

"Okay... from where exactly,?" pressed the pegasus.

"It would take a tremendous amount of power to get through," estimated the Techmare. "We'd have to shut down entire systems. All across town."

"What about the peripheral defences and the outer sector?" proposed Twilight.

All eyes turned toward the Equustode.

"What about the civilians that are still here?" enquired Fluttershy.

"It would take time to evacuate them, but me and my ponies can definitely pull it off." Rainbow Dash said with assurance. "We just need a good flight pattern and..."

"No," Twilight interrupted. "I need you protecting the array. They visibly want to stop me from sending the message. We must warn the Throne and gather information."- She turned toward Applejack. -"I'll also need some ponies to take several documents in the archives. Fifty of them should suffice."- She pointed at Fluttershy. -"I'd like you to escort them too."- She turned toward Rarity. -"I'd also need you to make the preparations for the message as soon as possible."- she designed Pinkie with her hoof -"I'll need to to defend the place once again. I count on you."

Without another word, she turned toward Spike, ready to make her next move. She stopped as she noticed that no pony nor dragon was moving.

"Was there something unclear with my orders?"

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash answered, anger evident in her voice. "What the buck was that?"

"Orders from your superior officer. Will you comply or do I have to demote you?"

Rainbow Dash was obviously about to retort something that was likely not words of compliance. Rarity intervened just in time, dendrites softly took place on the pegasus's shoulder and torso, silently begging her to calm down and stay silent.

"Now, now, darling. Let's not be hasty. You have to admit that your order are a little unconventional are they not?" the white unicorn interceded.

"Unconventional my plot!" the assault mare burst out. "The enemy's at our doors and she want to dig into archives! 'Gather information' and whatnot! that's not how you win a war! That's not how we defend this world!"

"This is how I'll win this one." Twilight stated with authority. "This is a war you win by gathering intel and preparing for...-" She hesitated. Some part of her wished to partake the information she had. The other wanted to keep them for her as long as possible. The latter won. "- what's coming next."

Rainbow was about to retort, but the mechanical whirring of Fluttershy's coffin cut her short. "What about the civilian trapped in the town center and in the mines?" she asked softly, repeating her previous concern.

"They'll have to wait. Fortunately, most of them are not in the main routes to the barracks so the enemy will likely ignore them."

"You know I could totally sneak them out?" the pink earth pony tried. "That would be easy peasy..."

"We'll see if the need arise. Right now, I want you here."

The pink warmare said nothing. Neither did Fluttershy,but the metallic forehoof clapping on the ground and the way the scout was playing with her cloak were  explicit signs of their discontent.

"Okay. Maybe I'm too stupid to understand." Rainbow said, taking a deep breath. "What's the big plan? Why are you doing that?" the she asked.

"I'm tired of repeating myself. We need intel on the enemy before we decide further action."

"Does it matter? They're enemies. We destroy them! Simple as that!" Rainbow yelled.

"No, it is not that simple!" Twilight answered in kind, finally losing her temper.

"And why is that Equustode?" said Applejack, finally speaking.

Twilight hesitated again. The now familiar battle raged in her mind, with the same victor. "You have your orders. Now obey."

The golden clad unicorn shut off the discussion by turning back to Spike and preparing for her own battle. The Spacemares hesitantly started to leave. All safe for one. Twilight chose to ignore the hoofstep calmly approaching and kept inspecting her gears, hoping that her indifference would this time prove more effective than useless bickering.

It was not.

"Again, were my orders unclear?" she asked, still turning her back on the Spacemare.

"Very clear. But there's another matter that need to be addressed," answered Applejack.

"I do not think so," the unicorn answered, still turning her back.

A hoof placed itself on her shoulder and forced her to turn. Twilight opened her muzzle to shout, but another hoof hit her in the face before she could.

Silence fell on the room. Twilight instinctively put her hoof on her face, because of the shock rather than pain.

Immediately, Spike rose his gun, aiming at the agressor, waiting for his mistress order. To her surprise, he was not alone. Rainbow stood beside Applejack, her blade aimed at the Timberwolf's throat. The other Spacemares did not move, visibly more conflicted about what had happened than their rainbow-maned sister. Applejack didn't falter. She stared at her with all the disapproval she could muster. She had apparently a lot of it.

"You're untrustworthy Equustode," she simply stated.

No. This was more than a statement. It was a judgement. Twilight stared back at Applejack. There was enough fury in her eyes to set her aflame, but the Spacemare seemed unphased. Their glares crossed, fury meeting disappointment.

"I've seen the previous agent sent to check on us," she continued. "They've been sent on this backwater planet to deal with lone Spacemares, and I doubt they liked it. But guess what? It did not matter. Everyone of them were prized agents of the Allmother, may they be regular ponies, tech adepts, Spacemares or Equustodes. And they acted like it. They were diligent and efficient, they were reliable. They judged every pony on this planet by their work and made the best use of our respective skills. Some were harsh on us... buck they all were! But they were just. Their simple presence made us better. The Empress asked them to check on it and by her Glorious Mane they did! They were examples to follow."

"You, on the other hoof, are a shame to the name of Equustode. You could have deal with the situation a billion ways better. You just had to call Pinkie outside for help as soon as the assaliant teleported in for crying out loud! You could have had Rarity to send the message from the bunker and never get into the trap in the first place! You could have asked me or Rainbow for help to clear the place! You could have coordinated our efforts! YOU COULD HAVE VOXED US FOR GOODNESS SAKE!"- Applejack gaze became harder, colder -"Instead of that you hid from us and put us all in danger. Imagine the damage this squad could have done if we had not stop them! You are nothing like the other agents of the Empress. You are secretive and uncaring. You are untrustworthy."

The jugement fell and with it silence on the room.

"Equustode?" Rainbow Dash asked reluctantly after a couple of seconds.

Twilight had still not say a word. She wanted to say that she did not care for their trust. Dismiss Applejack's berating. But nothing came.

She was right. She was painfully right. From the moment she had been on this planet... no from the moment she had been sent in this mission, she had been full of doubts and utterly unreliable. She trully was untrustworthy, and despite her reassurance that she wouldn't do the same mistake again... she had. Repeatedly.

She truly had  been untrustworthy.

"Leave her," she said slowly. "She's right."

Spike and Rainbow Dash obeyed, the former reluctantly, the latter diligently. There was an awkward pause that even Pinkie Pie didn't dare to break. The Equustode breathed slowly and looked at every body, seemingly seeing them for the first time.

 

"Ignore my previous orders. Prepare plans for the defences how you see fit. I'll meet you in the barrack in thirty minutes for a strategic meeting. Gather any pony relevant to the situation."

The mares nodded.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Applejack?" she called.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for your honesty."

The Spacemare smiled and left the room after her sisters. "Think nothing of it... Equustode."

 

 

**~o~**

 

A few minutes had passed. Equustode and serf were alone once again.

"Are you okay Twilight?"

"She's right. Isn't it?" she mused.

Spike didn't answer.

"Since my first step on this planet, I've made more mistake than in my entire life. That's decades worth of mistakes, all concentrated in less than a planetary day."

"You're too hard on yourself," he tried.

"Am I? Don't tell me 'Pain Keeper' was that hard to spot. Nor were the ponies that attacked us in the streets."

"Well..."

"I could have caught up with Pinkamena ten times, but I didn't because I could not focus on the task at end. I did not even react when she revealed me there was a cultist cell in this planet..." Twilight breathed deeply, her "You know... I thought I somehow failed the Empress and that's my punishment for my errors."

"That's what I mean when I say you're too hard on yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"The Empress trusts you. She doesn't need to punish you because you are one of her most prized soldier. How many ponies can claim to have a personal connexion to her? This assignment has never been about punishing you. It's about sending a mare she trust on a special mission. Her loyal Equustode, Twilight Sparkle. You've not failed her. You were right! The Warmistress is back! And she sent you here exactly for that reason!"

Twilight scoffed. "I made a poor use of that trust didn't I?"

"Yeah maybe," he said with a smile, "but 'trust is never given, trust is earn through your deeds'. Remember?"

'Trust is never given. Trust is earned through your deeds'. No. She had not forget...

 

 

 

**__________**

 

She was considerably younger at that time. She had barely earned her tenth name, but she was proud of her accomplishment nonetheless. She had been summoned to the Throne. The fake one. The one depicted in most of the work of the artist across the Imperium. The one with golden walls and beautiful mosaics showing the glorious heroes battling the forces of evil and protecting Her citizen. No one wanted to acknowledge the existence of the other Throne. The one where countless unicorns and psykers died every passing seconds. But for Twilight, it was an honour. It didn't matter that the Empress before her was merely a psychic manifestation of Her. This, was the  closest she would probably ever be to Her. Being in presence of the illusory image had still filled her with pride. She remembered basking a moment in the glory of the almighty ruler of the Imperium, before bowing.

"Twilight Sparkle."

The voice of the Empress echoed in the throne room, not carried by air and sound waves, but by thoughts and sheer power. Twilight's bow had deepened at that moment.

"My Empress," she answered her head still low.

"I was told that you were not a participant of the last blood games."

There had been the slightest hesitation in her voice as she had answered. "I was not."

"May I inquire why?"

"My Empress, I am sorry if I displeased you..."

"You have not yet, my faithful Equustode."

"I just don't understand their goal. To imply that you need to be defended... it doesn't feel right to me."

Twilight could not see it, but In the edge of the real throne room, several ponies died. The almighty Empress did not even reacted to it. Still bowing, Twilight couldn't read the expression on the face of her mistress. But the psychic aura emanating from her was enough. There was the slightest trace of amusement... And a growing amount of disappointment.

"Twilight Sparkle."

"My Empress?" she had fretted.

"Does your serves have to stop checking your gears because of the genius of those who made them? Should our archivists stop their work for other ponies had witnessed the fact they so dutifully write? Should we stop to defend our worlds because ultimately it is our destiny to rule the galaxy?

Twilight had stayed silent. In that moment, she thought how lucky it was for her that her face was bowed. That way, the Empress would not see the shame.

"As powerful as I may be, this Imperium is the work of trillions of ponies. Not merely mine. I merely had a vision and put it into motion, but every last one of my citizen is strive to making it work. I ask of them to do their very best, just as I"- she insisted heavily on the "I" -"do my best to keep it safe. To this endeavour I created warriors to extend, pacify and protect the Imperium... and me. From those exceptional beings I expect even more. Ponies are flawed. You have been engineered, trained and conditionned not to be. I expect better from you."

Twilight was mortified, but the Empress was not finished yet. She breathed deeply. It was not a sigh, nor the simple mark of exasperation that common ponies used. It was the effort of a greater mind trying to reach a smaller one with simple words. This was the moment when she had said it.

"Trust is never given. Trust is earned through your deeds. Trust can only be built upon the guaranty that everyone will do their duty to the best of their capacity."

 

 

 

**__________**

 

'Trust is never given. Trust is earned through your deeds'. But could she still earn back the trust of the Spacemares? Could she face the Empress once this whole mess would be over? But that was the whole point wasn't it? There was only one way to make amend for it. Through action.

Twilight felt like some mist had left her mind. Things were now clear and precise. She had a planet to protect against a powerful foe. This was clear. This was her mission. And there was no other option than victory.

"Thank you, Spike."

"Don't mention it" he smiled.

 

 

**__________**

**PV-01  
** **DP-Batallion barracks, strategium**

The strategium was unusually crowded. The room had, after all, been thought with ten or so regular ponies in mind not half a squad worth of Spacemares and a dreadnought. Despite Fluttershy's best efforts to make herself as small as possible, the non-Horsestarte ponies had a hard time to fit in the little place left.  Yet regardless of the pressure, both mental and physical, everypony remained calm and composed.

Twilight took a moment to study the people around her. For the time being, they would be her allies, her instruments, her weapons, her data stream and her voice to the several loyalist forces in presence on this planet.

Rainbow Dash had come with a single pony. A rather small earth pony with an ivory-white fur and blazing orange mane. A large scar barred his face, starting shallow above the eye and deep around the corner of his muzzle. Despite having read the name of all the Spacemares' officer, she had a hard time recognising him. Not until Rainbow Dash called him by his name. "Ivory". Colonel Ivory Meteor. No wonder Twilight had not recognised him. Considering his experience as a paratrooper, pilot and assault pony, she had expected a pegasus, not an earth pony. She slowly integer what she could about him and moved on to the next officers.

Applejack had came with more than a dozen ponies, but only two had followed her into the room. The first one was an old mare whose body looked as feeble as her gaze was sharp. Her pale green fur was riddled with marks or rejuvenating surgery and battle scars. She wore her white mane in a tight bun that gave her face an even sterner look. At her side, stood her exact opposite. The stallion was a giant of a pony, almost as big as an Horstarte. He stood at the ready, a few hooves behind the mare. His attitude seemed relaxed at first glance, but his weight was constantly shifting between his hooves, depending on the relative position of Applejack and his companion. His red fur was devoid of any battle mark (and Twilight knew for a fact that it was not due to his lack of presence on the front) and his short, blond, messy, mane flow loosely on his scalp, just short enough not to hinder his vision. Twilight need no efforts to identify Granny Smith and Big Macintosh of the Dulce Pomum battalion. Second in command only to Applejack.

Rarity had come with two servitors, more mechanical being than ponies anymore. It was hard to know what colour their fur or mane had once been. Several bionic augments and implants came out of their bodies, in various places and form, seemingly sensing the room with senses that made little to no sense for an organic. Twilight didn't spent too much time analysing them. They were merely extension of Rarity's will. Even their name were binary codes for the functions the techmare had for them at any given moment. As far as Twilight was concerned, they were "Servitor-One" and "Servitor-Two".

Pinkie Pie had come alone, save for a strange servo-skull made with the remain of some reptilian creature. The Spacemare was sometimes interacting with it in some sort of strange, one-sided conversation. Twilight chose to ignore her.

Fluttershy had come alone. Her file made no mention of any second or any pony that would answer to her command, so Twilight didn't wonder any further.

All and all, counting the servitors and the servo-skull floating above the ground, the meeting counted twelve persons.

"The ponies and Spacemares here gave, and still give their all for this planet. They're trying to protect it. Time to help them do just that... And do my due part."

Twilight cleared her throat, silencing the room instantly. All eyes were instantly on her. And then, she told them everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Trust is not given. It is earn through our deeds."  
> \- The Empress
> 
> "There is no honnor in making a secret of the truth."  
> "Some truth are better left unspoken."  
> "Then those truths are better left unseeked."  
> \- Sergeant Applejack


	13. Part I - Epilogue - A world goes to war

The Strategium was empty. Or almost so. The monotonous sound of pages of paper flipping was the only thing breaking the silence.

It had been less than a day since Spike had not been in a fight. Yet it felt like years. And the current peace he now enjoyed was more nerve grating than soothing. War was coming. And as infuriating as it sounded, his role was not on the front with his mistress, but in the back, gathering, filtering and sending back information. So he did. With as much conviction as he could fake.

His mistress counted on him. So he obeyed. This was how he would wage war.

For now.

~o~

 

War is coming. Applejack thought.

It had been barely two decades since the last major fight in the system. Five, if she only considered the ones that made it to planetfall. It had been a long time, considering the usual pace at which the Spacemares fought. It had been a long time, even considering her own lifespan. But most of the ponies in front of her weren't even born at that time. For them, it would be their first war. Not an exercise. Not a couple of encounters. Not a skirmish against badly prepared insurrectionists or passing through pirates. This time, it was the real deal.

The grey-armoured Spacemare stood in front of them. Her gaze passed through them. Studying them, without ever fixing any of them. There was but a fraction of her ponies here. Most of them were busy defending the town and preparing the barrack for a prolonged siege. Those who would not see her were still listening via vox. They were all waiting.

War is coming. She thought again.

The thought was stronger this time. More tangible. Most of the ponies in front of her would die. Most of the guard in this planet be it on the DP, or in Cloudsdale, or in space fighting the Bats would die. She knew this.

The Spacemare took a deep breath. Her lungs filled with air and determination.

"I dunno if you noticed, but we're under attack," she started, enticing a few laughs. She waited for them to calm. "And yes," she added with a more serious tone, "the rumours are true. There are Spacemares with the traitors."

The words struck with the force of a bolter barrage.

"I know what you think. And you're right, this sucks like a Frost Wyrm caught in a trapper's nest. Spacemares are not ponies. You were trained for war. We're born for it, shaped for it and THEN we're trained for it. Longer than most of you have lived." Unease grew stronger. "You're not fighting soldiers. Those are siege weapons in pony shape. Stronger, faster and tougher. If you face them one on one, you sure as hay will die."

She stated the truths with no hesitation. Unrest was growing. A constant rumour agitated the soldiers. It was thick into the air, mixed with the potent smell of fear.

"That's why you won't do that." she said with force and confidence. "You don't face a tank head on. You use a rocket launcher and explosives."- She made a pause and turned toward a large pony covered with scars. -"Except you Head," she said pointing at him, "you're the kind of plain dwelling frosted head who charges tanks and survives."

Laugh erupted. The tension was magically disappearing, just as easily as she had conjured it.

"There are more of you than there are of them. You are prepared and armed. You are clever and flexible. If you do things right we may have a chance. But it won't be easy."

She paused again and looked into their eyes.

"It takes extraordinary ponies to win again a full Spacemare assault. Twice as brave, four times as tough and ten times as strong as a regular soldier. It takes a DP to stand a chance."

There was a third pause. She looked at her ponies once more. None of them dared look away from her. The fear was still here. But there was something else. There was hope. Applejack took a deep breath and screamed, loud enough to be heard by everyone of them, with or without a vox.

"DP BATTALION! ARE YOU WITH ME?"

Hooves hit the ground amongst the enthusiast screams of the soldier. Guards on the barricades started to shout and sing. A confident smile adorned her muzzle.

"Well DP, time to show'em what we're made of. We will drive those heretics back to the bucking hole they never should have left. FOR PONYVILLE! FOR THE IMPERIUM! FOR THE ALMIGHTY EMPRESS!"

All around her, soldier repeated her words.

Most of them would die. She knew it. She accepted it. But they would not die without taking the enemy with them. War was coming, and it would have a warm welcome.

~o~

Rarity heard (and felt) the ruckus from her laboratory.

Count on Applejack to motivate the troops, even with such unfavourable odds. She thought, with no small hint of amusement.

She filtered it out with a thought. She needed focus. Her appendages danced around her, adding subtle touches to the semi-mechanised ponies around her. Both servitors were now equipped several armament systems instead of their usual maintenance tools. She had been reluctant to do so, but exceptional situations required exceptional means. And considering what she'd heard, this situation was as exceptional as they came. A surplus of protection would likely not hurt. There were dozens of machineries, weapons and systems that still needed her touch. In the coming hours, there would be hundreds of them, and somehow, she doubted the enemy would be kind and civilised enough to let her do her work. As a result, she would have to make sure her maintenance plan was optimised. Every little addition could save a dozen objectives through butterfly effect. She could not afford to be delayed by unnecessarily long fights... or worse, impaired by them.

So, reluctantly, Rarity armed herself and her servitors.

Most of the weapons in her laboratory were dreadfully inelegant and far too inefficient for her taste. Fortunately, the Techmare had already prepared her own armoury.

War is such a messy thing. she mused distractedly. Chaos and random variables, weapons breaking out of their turn and ruffians with unfathomable goals... dreadful.

Rarity shuddered at the thought. Fortunately, the Ponyssiah had given ponykind the tools to deal with the chaos of war. To tame it in a sense. Several of those tools were displayed in front of the Techmare. Most of them were too inelegant and inefficient to her taste. A selected few however, were right up her alley. She had after all, designed them herself. Several tools of destruction were reviewed, evaluated and rejected in a simple glare. There would be Spacemares to fight. Maybe even a Primare'ch. She could not do an half-flanked job. Her selection had to be perfect. Several combinations were considered before she finally made a definitive choice. When she left the weapon racks, two curved blades adorned her anterior servos, two plasma guns rested quietly in holsters on both side of her barrel, and various tools that could either be used to damage or repair filled her utility belt.

This should do the trick.

One more task remained...

"Is Fluttershy ready?" she bipped to her servitor.

A single affirmative binary vocalisation answered.

As messy as war, is, I suppose some things never change. She contemplated.

As usual, she wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not.

~o~

 

Even by the Marechanicum standards, Ponyville awakening chamber was a cold and empty one. Most of the necessary machines, servitors and ritual tools needed to run such a place were remarkably absent. The reanimating devices that still occupy the room were silent and unpowered. There was however one element in its rightful place. In her massive coffin, Fluttershy stood. Immobile. Mute.

But not asleep.

Fluttershy did not sleep. She never slept. Sleep brought memories. Memories of another life, another time, another millennium and distant stars... and distant wars. Sleep brought... false comfort. Sleep brought peace, when the galaxy knew none. Only war was constant. And after years (months? decades?) of ignoring this sector, it had came back.

But deep down, she knew there was something else. Something worse.

What she "feared", for lack of a better term, was not the false comfort of sleep. What she eluded was the surge she felt inside her when she woke up. The anger. The rage tainting her blood... and which will probably one day take her and never let go.

So Fluttershy didn't sleep. So Fluttershy waited patiently for war to come upon Ponyville once again. So maybe she could relieve herself... or find an honourable death.

Rarity's steps rang in the hallway. Repetitive. Precise. The metronomic sound invaded the chamber, chasing the silence. An armoured hoof hit Fluttershy's shoulder.

No. she corrected herself mentally. Not my shoulder. My tomb's.

Rarity placed herself in front of her, her hoof still on the cool, lifeless metal of the Dreadnought's shell. Maybe it was due to the Techmare nature, but the touch never felt as cold as it should. It was always a soothing relief from her condition.

"Are you ready, Darling?" she asked with concern.

"I am, Rarity," Fluttershy answer. She always was.

"Then let's proceed."

And then the simulacrum of ritual started. It was as old as their first meeting. Rarity would reactivate each and every subsystems of the machines; one after the other, methodically; and Fluttershy would let her do so.

"Is Angel ready to fight?" the entombed pegasus asked out of the blue.

"You'll see him on the battlefield." Rarity answered. "Like always, my dear."

The dreadnought slowly flexed her forelimbs. A nod of acquiescence.

"Ready, darling?"

"... Let's put an end to this madness."

There would be no peace for the time being.

~o~

 

To some, war was as duty, a chore or a necessity. To Pinkie Pie, it was a celebration. And it was her goal to make sure everyone involved enjoyed it as much as possible. For the ponies on her side, that meant killing a lot of enemies and not dying. For the ponies in front of her weapons... it involved dying quickly. If possible even they even reached the core of the fight.

Why else would they deny the greatness of the Empress, if they didn't want to die? It would make absolutely no sense at all!

So Pinkie had found herself planning for the party of her life. In the coming days, she would have the greatest guest in the history of guests. So she had to make sure the reception would be flawless.

She had naturally started with the area surrounding the barracks, starting with the north side. Barely one hour after her arrival to the northern quarter, the place had become surprisingly quiet. At its centre, the Glorious Empress plaza looked almost like ancient ruins, rather than an active battlefield. Considering it so, however, would have been a mistake. A mistake which had cost the life of several squads of anti-imperials in the last hours. The place was a death trap, roamed by a silent spectre clad in white and black. Soon the word had passed that the area was haunted and to be avoided until the Spacemares' arrival.

Just according to Pinkie's plan.

The north wall of the barracks and the surrounding areas would have the time they needed to reinforce their position. Now she'd had to prepare the place for when more troops would come back. Which was just as fun to her as driving enemies away.

"Do you think they'll like this one Gummy?" she said leaving the hole she'd just dug.

The trap was simple yet effective. A hole and a few well-disposed grenades. Enough to incapacitate a squad of heretics in tight formation or a light vehicle. Or a Spacemare. There were dozens of such traps laid all around the plaza. Each one unique in its conception, but equally lethal.

The Spacemare looked at it with an appreciative look. The servo-skull floated closer to her head. His antigravs whizzed softly as it came closer. The Spacemare seemed to find some wisdom in the sound.

"You're right!" she exclaimed as loudly as discretion permitted. "There something missing to make it really great..."

The pink warmare put her hoof on her chin, taking her best thinking pose. The idea struck her like a sniper round in the head of a cultist, stealing a victorious "HA HA!" from her lips. The mare got back in the hole, adding some key elements to the trap. Looking at her handy work, Pinkie Pie smiled.

"Done! Now let's go Gummy! There's still plenty of fun to bring to this battlefield!"

~o~

 

Miles above, another Spacemare was enjoying herself. No. It was beyong mere enjoyment. It was excitement at levels mere ponies could not experience.

Rainbow Dash revelled in the idea of fighting the traitor legions. But against a Primare'ch? Against THE Primare'ch? This was not war anymore. It was something more. It was... a challenge. It was THE challenge. It was the kind battle one only faced once in an entire century. Millenium even. The stuff of legends. And SHE would be in the front line. She would battle against the infamous Warmistress.

So Rainbow Dash was excited, and if her wide smile was not indication enough, her body language was very explicit.

Cloudsdale's pilots had never seen the Spacemare like this, but they knew her well enough to understand what it meant. There was a glorious fight in the coming. And it also meant they would have to give more than their maximum.

Rainbow and Ivory stood before what remained of Cloudsdale forces after the purge. The Spacemare didn't even go through her usual rushed introduction. She plunged right into the the middle of it.

"Okay guys. This is lame in my book: dying, missing your target, fleeing and not having a double digit body count at the end of this. I know you can't be as awesome as me, but I didn't train you to be lame! Understood?"

The captains all snickered and smirked but acknowledge the words of the Spacemare nonetheless. The strange humour and carefree attitude of the Spacemare had always been a refreshing departure from the demigod mythos. Yet they respected her nonetheless. If her attitude was unexpected for a demi-goddess, her skills were clearly on the divine side.

One after the other they saluted, as the custom wished. They were ready.

"Good. I'll let Ivory give you the boring details, like who we have to shoot and where."

With a tired sigh, her second did exactly that, providing them with the specifics of their targets and the battle plans. There was no question.

"Everypony's okay with that?"

They all nodded.

"Perfect!" she said, reviving her jetpacks. "Now let's kick their flank so hard they'll talk about it for another ten thousand years!"

Laughs and roars of excitement echoed in the room. Rainbow Dash barely heard them. She was already outside.

~o~

 

Like the creature it took its name from, Mares Pattern Rhinos were massive, unwavering beasts roaming the battlefield with a mix of serenity and power. The beast cut through the ruined battlefields without faltering, going through walls and ignoring the road's newly added holes and irregularities. It was another matter altogether for the ponies inside, who would feel every and any fault in the terrain. All of them save for the golden warpony in their midst.

Just as her transport, Twilight was imperturbably calm. By some feats of equilibrium and perception, the unicorn seemed utterly unphased by the moving vehicle, staying strictly vertical in her position, despite some rather chaotic movements. Her closed eyes furthered the stone-like aspect of the warrior. Like some old statue braving the fury of the element with calm and indifference.

Inside her mind however, she was a storm of prayers and devotion chanted to the Empress. War was coming. The Warmistress was coming. She would fight soon. So she prayed. For her soul, for her duty, to call the Mind Eye of the Almighty Empress upon her.

Twilight prayed and recited old words. Words of the golden and silver knights... And while doing so, she couldn't help but think of the people this world now depended on...

Inside the barracks, her Monitor was helping her as he could, battling data instead of soldiers.

I am the Hammer...

Several miles away, an orange earth warpony organised the defences and readied ponies for an incoming siege.

I am the edge of Her Sword...

In the ruins of what had once been a power plant, a white furred Techmare was trying to salvage whatever she could while fending off cultists.

I am the tip of Her Spear...

In the outskirts of town, a raging, yellow plated, pink bannered, Dreadnought was opening a path for refugees to get into safety.

I am the iron about Her Hoof...

A few miles above her, a pegasus, clad in black atop multicoloured clouds was about to launch the first series of aerial strikes in the area.

I am the flight of Her Arrows...

A small chock on her cuirasse stopped her. A guard had lost her footing and was now pressed on her. Twilight was wondering if the look of terror in her eyes was due to the prospect of battle or the fact she had disturbed an emissary of the Empress. Twilight elected to dissipate both.

With smooth and slow movements, she helped the guard find back her footing.

"Is it your first war soldier?" she asked softly.

The pony nodded quickly, getting back to her position and gripping a harness.

"What's your name soldier?" she asked.

Said soldier fumbled an answer, barely audible in the vehicle.

Twilight slowly nodded. She turned toward the closest guardsman beside the mare. "What's your name soldier?"

He jumped and answered nervously. The demi-goddess, turned toward the following soldier and repeated her question. Every one inside had their turn, answering the question of the mare with both nervousness and expectation. When all of them had given her their name, she spoke again, this time addressing them all at once.

"Soldiers, my name is Twilight Sparkle, Equustode in the service of the Empress. Today you and I are comrade in battle. Today, each and everyone of us carry the name of every pony in this squad, so when one of us die, their will keeps going through every other member of the squad. Today we carry the hope of every ponies on this planet, so we know that when one of us die, they died protecting this very hope. Today we fight the enemies of the Almighty Empress. Today we wage war in Her name! And today we live and die for Her, here, in Ponyville!"

She had barely raised her voice, but her last words resounded in the vehicles with more force than screams could. The ponies around her now stood proud. Something had changed, and she could see it, even though she didn't really understood it. And this made her feel sightly awkward.

"Do you know any prayer or battle song?" she asked the first mare.

The mare nodded, then, after a moment of hesitation, she cleared her throat and started to sing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "We may be few, and our enemies many. Yet so long as there remains one of us still fighting, one who still rages in the name of justice and truth, then by the Allmother, the galaxy shall yet know hope."  
> \- Ragnar Blackmane, Wolf Lord of the Space Timberwolves
> 
> "Give me a squad of mares first. But second, give me army troops and a solid wall."  
> \- Commander Ashton Grimes


	14. Part II - Prologue - Shadows

**PV-01**  
**Outskirts of Ponyville**

 

War had changed Ponyville. War, and the unnatural powers of the Warp. No sun had rose to illuminate the sky. Instead, a pool of blackness and impossible colours unshone above the planet, bleeding madness unto the world, leeching light and warmth like a parasite. The smoke and ashes saturating the air made things worse. No large armies had clashed yet. The fights had been short, violent and spread all across the city. But it had been enough to ruin it.

What had once been a small mining hub at the heart of an agricultural world, had become an ocean of darkness roamed by black tendrils of smokes and moving shadows.

Three of those lurked into the ruined buildings. The silhouettes' hearts beat hard and loud. More than the effort, it was fear that overstimulated the organ in their chest. In the front, preceding her companions by a few metres, a pegasus silhouette tried to keep her breath in check, with little to no success. Behind her, a unicorn was attempting, for the umpteenth time, to dim the light and sound of her device, a broken scanner they had found and salvaged. The others had soon realised it was the way their comrade had found to keep her calm in the pitch black ruins. The efforts were poorly rewarded, in every way. Just as the previous attempt. And all those before it. They let her tweak the device anyway. Whatever it took for her to deal with the situation. In the rear, an earth pony was checking the surrounding, her hoof playing distractedly with the safety of her autogun. At first it had been a mean of survival but it soon had become a force of habit. Neither the pegasus nor the unicorn looked too deep into it however. The earth pony needed the reassurance. The attention of the pegasus shifted back in front of her. The darkness was too thick for her to discern anything past a few metres but she still watched attentively, looking for the slightest movement. The futility of the action didn't matter. She needed some kind of reassurance too.

The trio arrived into what had once been a large warehouse. Offering a bigger target than the neighbouring structures, it had suffered the most. Only the corners still stood, reminders of the limits of the building. The ponies stopped inside the delimited area and took their breath. The pegasus quickly got out to check their surrounding.

The earth pony looked around with what she hoped was expertise. There was almost nothing to hide behind, here. The place was not very defensible... But they'd easily hear anyone coming... A nudge on her shoulder made her jump. Her heart hammered her rib cage again. The unicorn showed the device and nodded dismissively. There was no one around. Probably. The salvaged scanner was far from reliable, but it was better than nothing. Yet, as unreliable as it was, the lack of signal was not good. Two other ponies were supposed to meet them. In fact, they were supposed to _wait_ for them here.

This was a bad sign if she knew one. Her pounding heart agreed loudly.

"How much time before we..." she started. She hesitated. She wanted to say "before we leave them behind", but she didn't dare speak them. Saying those words would bring bad luck. "How much time?"

"Sixty bips," the unicorn whispered after a while.

 _A bit more than ten minutes then,_ she calculated.

In absence of clocks or sun, they had had to find their own mean of calculating time. The regular sound of the scanner had been their clock ever since they'd found it.

"Let's wait for a bit longer," the earth pony proposed. "How much is fifteen minutes?"

"Seventy-five" the unicorn answered after a time.

"Let's wait."

Time passed maddeningly slowly... yet too fast.

The scanner bipped its death knell. Nopony had come. It was time for them to go. But the earth pony hesitated for a couple of seconds. Her companions said nothing.

One more "bip" sounded in the dark.

"Let's go," she sentenced.

They ran into the shadows, trying to be as silent as possible. From time to time, the machine would bip twice and the small silhouettes would freeze and wait for another signal, before getting back to their race. Their objective, one of the few outer zones not totally under cultist's control, was drawing closer. They could see the flickering lights of the few lumen orbs that had survived the battles.

The shadows were losing their substance, getting less oppressive, less alive. While relieved, the ponies stayed hidden. Bringing attention to them now would be really stupid. There was a growing sense of urgency in their run however. The silhouettes flirted with the penumbra, more and more daring. The light was getting stronger by the minutes, forms got more complex, colours sometimes daring stand out from the dull uniform grey.

They kept running. The figures got more precise as they escaped darkness. No longer did they melt in it. There was still no sound except for the regular bips and the occasional noise of rocks cracking, moving, falling... It was getting harder to pay attention however. The thumping of their heart, pumping, beating, hammering, now overrode the muffled sound of their hooves. So close to their goal, it was getting harder for them to care anyway.

Forms were getting more detailed now. Other sensations emerged from the darkness. Warmth for instance - a blessing on their drenched-in-sweat fur - or the soft buzzing of the nearby power plants. It took all their willpower not to dash out of cover to the prospect of shelter. They were getting close. A few blocks and they would be there... They could feel the freedom at hoof. They could almost smell it...

The pegasus stopped. The unicorn, now following closely, hit her in the flank. The earth pony followed the trend and rammed the unicorn in the same fashion.

"What's wrong?" the unicorn asked.

"Do you smell that?" the leader of the cohort answered.

It took them a while to smell it. It meshed with the smell of ashes and burned prometheum. It was a subtle sent. Subtle but undeniable. The sickening mix of blood and fire, bile and tears, suffering and death. Ponies had fought and burned here. The battles had preceded them. The victor was still undetermined, but something in the air reeked of heresy.

"This... isn't good..." the earth pony articulated.

"Maybe there's still ponies left..." the unicorn ventured.

"You think?"

She did not. None of them did. Deep down, they hoped nopony was still roaming the battlefield.

"I'll go check." the pegasus announced suddenly. "If there's somepony, I'll see them before they see me, I'm faster than anyone around anyway."

Her companions tried to dissuade her but she dismissed the objection. "We have to know." she affirmed repeatedly.

The earth pony hesitated, then nodded. The pegasus nodded back, then disappeared in the dark. She came back a few dozens of bips later.

"There was nopony," she declared. "The place's empty."

"Any sign of them?" they asked. "None at all?"

Even the ambient obscurity couldn't hide the flash of pure terror on her face. "... No," she lied. "Nothing. The place was empty."

"We oughta leave before somepony comes this way," finally said the earth pony.

As a cue, the scanner bipped. Several times more than once. Silence fell on the group instantly. Second passed and the scanner bipped again, normally this time.

"Tell me that was a bug."

"I could tell you that but I'm not sure..." the unicorn answered.

"I don't want to find out!" interjected the pegasus. "Let's go!"

"Where to?"

The earth pony hesitated. They could go back to the shadows, but how long would they survive there? There was no food, no water and no ally there. Only omnipresent darkness waiting to gobble them all. She didn't want to live like that.

"Better die in the light of the Empress than to live in the shadow..." she mumbled.

"That's something your parents said?" the unicorn asked.

"No. I just came out with it."

"It's nice," answered the pegasus.

"Thanks," she said. Even if she couldn't quite see it, she could guess the smile in the words of her companions. It gave a quality to their words that she hadn't felt since the day they met. "Let's go."

They ran deeper into the light. The bips came back in force. They kept running.

The chase lasted less than a minute. They didn't even get to truly escape the obscurity. They ended up surrounded and cornered pretty soon. Even with the remnants of light, they couldn't see their assailant... but they could hear them, trotting all around them, changing position, circling them like a pack of hungry predators.

The bips had stopped. The machine had finally died.

The runaways tried to hide themselves in the crumbling corner of some house. It offered no real protection, except for their back. It was better than nothing.

The hoofsteps got closer and closer, yet nopony appeared. Even here, the shadows protected their own.

How long did it last? They had no ideas; even if the machine still worked, the situation would have been too nerve wracking for any of them to count the signals. As suddenly as the steps had started, the place became silent once again. Then, a lone pony appeared, seemingly popping out of nowhere. They got closer to the runaways. Close enough for their form to get its own distinct shade of black. The pony was advancing in a non-threatening manner... or rather as if they weren't concerned by the current situation. As if the unnatural darkness and the war waging was nothing more than moderately bad weather.

The voice that came out of the mysterious pony was calm and with enough assurance to be on the wrong side of mocking. It sounded feminine, but with the shadows... they couldn't tell.

"Well, well, well. What have we here? Who are you? Deserters?"

"We-we're not. We... we're ju-just passing." they stammered.

The voice chuckled loudly. "Guys! They're not DPs! They're just fillies!" Laughs erupted all around them. "Come on foals," the voice said, trying to sound sweet, "get out of your hole. We won't hurt you."

"...You swear?" they asked hesitantly.

"Yeah sure!" the voice promised, closing on them. "Why would I lie to you?"

"She" was a few metres away from them now. The trio could almost discern "her" now... a grey figure on a black canvas. "She" was big for a pony. It was hard to say if "she" wore an armor or if "she" was naturally bulky. Anyway, "she" looked imposing. Maybe "she" was their chief. "She" was getting closer. Closer. Closer... "Come on now foals," "she" said," extending her arm toward them, impatience getting in the way of the fake kindness, "get out of your hole."

There was an threatening"click".

Agriponaa Pattern Type II autoguns were simple weapons, leaning on the crude side. A highly explosive mix, contained in a metallic case propelled a bullet down the muzzle of the weapon toward the target. Coupled with a twenty bullets magazine and a mechanism permitting rapid fire, it was enough to fulfil its intended purpose: bore enough holes into the enemy to cause their death. It was truly a simple weapon, nowhere as powerful or precise as the more potent weapons available in the Imperium arsenal. However, its simple design and its efficiency made it a choice weapon for militia ponies. Military officers would often joke and motivate the troops by claiming that "the weapon is so simple to use, even a filly could be taught to fire them".

_Security first. Stop breath. Aim. Short burst._

Five detonation filled the place. Then eight. Then seven more. For brief seconds, the world was bright again. The weapon claimed back the light stolen by the heretics.

The first burst hit the arm of the "mare", twice, between the hoof and the knee. Her cry of pain was drown into the noise of the firearm. The second burst grazed her shoulder and bore into her mane. The last and final burst hit nothing but air and rockcrete.

"What about no?" shouted the unicorn.

"We won't go with you traitors!" added the pegasus.

The earth pony said nothing. Gunpowder had already talked for her. Beside, she was busy reloading.

The heretic fell on the ground, still screaming, surprise and pain making "her" loose "her" hooving. "She" crawled on the ground, getting as quickly out of sight as possible, cursing and screaming at "those fucking foals", threatening to "strip their flesh and break their bones". The other ponies fell silent, their amusement shot dead. Some of them moved quickly, probably taking cover, but not all of them. Those moved slowly towards the trio, dragging the shadows with them as they went.

A new kind of sound now regularly broke the silence. But this one it was not reassuring.

"Are we gonna die?" the unicorn asked.

"No..." the gunfilly said. The lie didn't convinced her. She wouldn't die a liar. "Yeah," she admitted, gripping her cumbersome gun tighter.

"Th-then let's kill some!" boasted the pegasus.

"Yeah!" added the unicorn.

The earth pony smiled at this.

She rose her autogun defiantly, she only had twenty bullets and one more charger. She had to make them count.

The screaming "mare" was gone. The other heretics were still nowhere to be seen. Silence was back again. In a moment of foalish hope, they wondered if they were gone. A shadow lurked on their right. The autogun fired. Another figure rose in front of them. The gun shifted and more bullet flew in the dark.

The filly cursed and took a few step back. She'd used at least six bullets for nothing.

The trio slowly retreated as far as the rockcrete corner permitted.

They were going to die. It dawned on them like never before. It was not a faint idea or a possibility in an unforeseeable future. It was a certainty. It was going to happen, right here, in no more than a couple of minutes. They wished they could say something. Do something. Have a final heroic scream of defiance, or die in a heroic charge, like in the rememberancers stories. But nothing came. Their tongues were stuck on their palate, their hooves were heavy as lead... They were going to die.

At least they would die fighting. For the Empress.

As an answer to their faith, there another detonation. This one was not the short burst of guns. It was the thunderous explosion of divine wrath. Then the day dawned again, as bright as ten thousand suns, as powerful as the Empress' might. It banished the shadows and burned the retinas of all in presence. Closing one's eye was not enough to escape it. Eyes soaked in tears, the fillies tried to understand what was happening, but their senses were struggling to adapt to the sudden aggression.

Somewhere, lost in the white noise, there were screams and weapon fire.

When their eyes finally recovered from the light burst, what they saw was so different if almost felt like another world. Another reality. A purer one, blessed by light. Gone was the darkness and its shadows. Now, dim lumen orbs on antigravs floated around the area, banishing the blackness and its corruption.

A bunch of soldiers, with DP uniforms patrolled around, forming a defensive perimeter. Most of them ignored the foals. A few of them however gave them nods of acknowledgement before getting back to their assigned tasks. But they were not the main focus of the fillies.

In the middle of the circle of light were three mares in armours. Their protections were so big and bulky they dwarfed even the soldiers around them. But even without them, they were way bigger than the average pony. No. They were not merely big. They were huge. Giants even. They oversaw the perimeter like guardian alicorns, giving orders to the rest of the troop, organising them with efficiency and precision. Even though they couldn't hear them, the fillies were still in awe...

_So these are Spacemares? They're so cool._

They seemed to notice the fillies at the same time they were noticed by them. They spoke a few words, then two of them came toward the runaway trio. They were even taller up close. The fillies basked into the sight of the grand daughters of the Empress...

The first Spacemare wore a grey power armour. She had no wings nor horn, so that made her an earth pony. Or maybe she had lost them in glorious battle? The fillies didn't know. She was also the only one wearing her helmet. With a swift move, she took it off. A blond mane framed her orange face like a golden aura. With grace, she greeted the fillies. The salute was respectful but not overly so. It was the acknowledgement from an officer to a good soldier from another unit. The fillies fumbled a salute of their own.

"At ease soldiers," she said. "Who's the leader of your band?"

Both the pegasus and the unicorn turned toward the earth pony but they stayed silent.

"We-we have no leader, Lady miss Spacemare." the filly answered. "We're just trying to survive."

"I see. How long have y'all been there in the dark?"

"Since the beginning of the attack Lady Spacemare."

"And you survived on your own for so long?" She seemed impressed.

"Yeah! Those heretics can't handle us! We've got the Empress on our side!" boasted the pegasus.

"Heh! I like them already." said the other Spacemare behind the first. She was a pegasus too. She wore a black armour with bulky reactors on her back. Her mane was showing all of the colours of the rainbow and her fur was like the sky on a sunny day. Her posture was way more relaxed, but she still had that aura of raw power around her.

The first Spacemare smiled.

"You weren't afraid?" she asked her earth pony counterpart.

"I... I was, Lady Spacemare. But whenever I was afraid, I remembered what my Pa said. 'If you're afraid, find the biggest gun you can. If you see an enemy, you shoot'em. If you see no enemy, you can hide behind your gun."

"Your Pa was a wise pony," the Spacemare said with a nod. She turned toward the last warmare. "Are y'all finished?"

"Almost, darling," she said, speaking from afar. "I'm getting a strange signal from around here that I can't identify."

"Anything dangerous?" the war pegasus asked.

"Not really... It's more like a broken tool or something, but its signal is almost unreadable."

The unicorn spoke timidly. "Hum... Lady Spacemare? Is this what you're looking for?"

The last Spacemare joined the conversation at last. Her pace was calm, even, mesured... One would dare to say ladylike. Her fur was as white as snow and her mane was a vibrant purple. For a moment, the fillies believed the bulk on her back to be reactors, like her pegasus counterpart, but they soon realised their mistake when the servo-arms deployed to take the scanner. The earth pony and pegasus fillies recoiled at the sight, but not the unicorn. She seemed fascinated by them. The mechanical hands softly enveloped the scanner and withdrew it off the filly's hooves.

"Did you make this... this?" she asked, her tone unreadable.

"What?" she said, leaving her stupor.

"Who made this contraption?" she said, pointing her hoof at the machine.

"Ah...I did miss... I mean Lady Spacemare," the unicorn stuttered. "I found it broken on a dead pony and I tried to repair it..." she began to explain. Then, realising that she may have broken some kind of rule, the unicorn quickly tried to defend herself. "I didn't mean anything by it! I just wanted to help!"

"This... this is... unbelievable..." she stated.

"It is? Really?" the filly asked hopefully.

"Yes. It is positively and unbelievably dreadful."

"Oh..."

"Still..." she kept on, not even noticing the effect of her words, "it is a wonder that you managed to make it work at all, at such a young age and with so little training an material... it is remarkable."

The unicorn grinned broadly, the praise worth more than a thousand bits. Applejack chuckled, noticing the exchange and its impact on the fillies.

"Rainbow?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Could you escort these soldiers here back to the closest fortification? And send them back to the barrack? They need rest and a good meal."

"Sure." The giant pegasus grinned. "Follow me mares."

The three fillies and the warpony left the area. The Spacemare walked calmly into the ruins. The fillies trotted behind her, trying to stay at her level despite the difference in pace.

"How come you didn't get lost?" the rainbow-maned inquired. "The place's a maze even on a normal day, and half the buildings are destroyed."

"I know them by heart." boasted the scoot of the group.

"All of the streets?"

"All the roads, Lady Spacemares."

"Fastest road from the southern market to the barracks?" she tested.

"Before noon, it's easier to take the south road, then..." the small pegasus began.

"Why before noon?"

"At noon, there's the second miners shift and the roads are crowded so it's better to take the East road, then shift after the canteens..."

The Spacemare stared at her for the entire duration of her explanation, smiling more and more broadly. She was correct. Absolutely correct.

"Nice skills squirt," she finally commented at the end of the filly's tirade.

This brought a equally bright smile on her face.

There was another silence. Longer this time. Broken walls and craters marked this part of the town.

"Lady Miss Spacemare?" one of the fillies asked.

"Yeah kid?"

"Are we winning?"

Rainbow Dash hesitated a fraction of a second. She could lie to them. These fillies had had a rough time. They had earned the right for some peace. But this thought died even before it became conscious. Peace was for the weak. They were not mere fillies. They were already soldiers, by necessity AND by deeds. They deserved the truth.

"Not yet. But we're working on it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Where there is uncertainty, I shall bring light  
> Where there is doubt, I shall sow faith  
> Where there is shame, I shall point atonement  
> Where there is rage, I shall show its course  
> My word in the soul shall be as my bolter in the field."  
> \- Litany of devotion


	15. Part II - Chapter 08 - Initiative

**PV-01  
** **DP Battalion Barracks, Strategium**

"This make no sense," Twilight grumbled in frustration. "This whole attack make no sense."

This was the third meeting of the sort since Twilight had finally decided to work with the planetary defence. Each one had been a great boon to cooperation between the Canterlotian and the Ponyvillians. They had also been increasingly frustrating for the Equustode. Despite their combined effort and the successes those reunions had brought, they were no closer from victory. And it didn't help that the opposition goals and methods seemed unreadable.

"Well yeah," Rainbow Dash shrugged. "They're heretics. They do dumb things."

"Not renegade Spacemares!" the Equustode contested. "Not the Luna's Bats. This whole invasion was very well prepared, they exploited even the tiniest holes in our defences, successfully took root under your muzzles and even crippled us to the point where we have to fight on equal hoof against an enemy who's less equipped, trained and numerous than us." Twilight looked deep into Rainbow Dash's eyes. "Don't underestimate them."

"What's the problem, Equustode?" Fluttershy intervened.

"This whole attack is a mess. It doesn't fit their usual modus operandi..." The other warmares gave her a curious look, as if wondering how and why she would know so much about this particular foe. She dismissed it with a wave of her hoof but still felt the need to explain. "I studied every pattern of attack of every known heretic chapters and sub-chapters," she informed matter-of-factly. "The Bats form a small chapter. Given their name and armour decoration, they're probably one of the Daughters of Luna's successors. They are pirates, experts in sabotage and infiltration. They're few in number but very efficient at guerilla tactics. They like to weaken their foes and then deliver the killing blow. The attack of the Dusk Squadron has their hoof all over it. But this? It's loud, uncoordinated, chaotic, ineffective..." she shook her head in disbelief. "Something is wrong. Something doesn't make sense. Not to mention the Tartarus hole above our head."

"Maybe they still need something for their Resurgence," Applejack proposed.

"Like what?"

"Well duh!" Pinkamena Diane Pie said, her combat knife standing on perfect equilibrium atop of her hoof. "Blood and souls! That's what they always want."

"Do you suggest that they're using these fights as a fuel for that dreadful thing," Rarity proposed.

"Well yeah..."- The knife got back into its sheath. -" I thought it was obvious."

All regards converged toward Twilight once again. "That doesn't fit their ways either," she muttered, scratching her chin in contemplation. "There are almost no account of them taping into the warp, and even then, it was arguably due to temporary alliances with other heretical chapters. We cannot rule out the possibility of a larger fleet coming, but so far, they're the only one here, and it is unlikely that we'll see a lot of newcomers with that thing stirring space inside our system." She pondered about it a few seconds. "It is more likely that they have finally succumbed to Chaos though," she finally conceded. "We have a world-size Immaterium event happening right above our head and they're likely its engineer. I suppose I should not be surprised," she mumbled. Mentally, she added the new information to her internal notes on the Enemy. "Heretics are heretics after all."

"But why wait?" the assault warmare finally asked. "Why not launch an all out attack and make as many deaths as possible? Even without counting the battle barge probably full of Spacemares above our heads, they have enough heretics to at least inflict some damage. No offense-" she added in direction of Applejack.

"None taken," the Timberwolf answered.

"And then they'd probably kill enough of us to activate whatever thingy they have in space to call the Warmistress. And I know how we're all awesome, especially me, but how does one even win against HER?"

"The Elements of Harmony," the Equustode let out.

Silence fell down on the room. She had taken the risk to tell them everything she knew, leaving the mention of the specific details for the Spacemares' ears only. Such revelations had let them uneasy. While they couldn't dismiss her words, they were still struggling with their implications.

"Wait," Rarity interjected. "What if they're looking for them? What if the reason they're not committing to the attack is because they don't know if we have the Elements?"

Twilight contemplated the idea. If they knew about the Resurgence and even engineered it, it made sense that the enemy was aware of the Warmistress weakness. "It could explain their behaviour... why they're slowly bleeding us out... they want to earn some time to find the Elements. Or maybe force us to use them and get the advantage."

Another silence.

"Those Elements," the white unicorn asked, "what are they? How do they work?"

"I do not know," Twilight confessed. "The descriptions are vague at best. I know they're a powerful weapon, composed of six parts, linked to the virtues of the true followers of the Empress. I know they need to be charged somehow, and I know they were powerful enough to banish the Warmistress for thousands of years."

"You also know their position," Pinkie Pie added.

"I wish I did... Or I would have already tried to secure them. Something tells me they are in this sector, but-"

"Oh... So THAT'S why you didn't try to do take them," she gasped, placing her hoof on top of the other in a 'ha ha!' manner. "I was wondering why you didn't even try! It makes perfect sense now!" 'Pinkie' Pie shook her head several time, agreeing with herself silently. "They're in the Everfree."

A third silence grew into the room, this one born of pure bewilderment. "What?"

"The Elements. They're in the Everfree. PV-00aCS01FPoV03. They're here." The mare lounged on the table and typed lazily on the keyboard of the holomap in the center of the table. The two planets, their sun and the satellite appeared in the holomap for everypony to see.

"But... how do you know that?"

" _Ponyville System history, volume one, chapter 2 : pre-colonisation of the PV system_ ," she stated. "About one millennium after the Heresy, four decades before the colonisation of PV-01, the personal ship of the Empress went to this system. They stayed thirty-two years then left. It was the last registered flight of the _Phoenix Rebirth_ , so it caught my attention. Considering how much the Empress seems to care about this system and the fact that the Resurgence is happening right here, I figured it was obvious," she shrugged.

"Oh..."

 _Of all the places to look for..._ Twilight chastised herself.

Rainbow Dash was the first to the one to express out loud what everypony else was thinking. "Okay, that's great that they came barking at the wrong door, but how do we get there to banish the big bad mare if she comes back?"

Again, all gazes turned toward the lavender unicorn.

"At the moment, those are just supposition. We have to find a way to get to PV-00aCS01FPoV03, but doing so and leave the planet defenceless would be foolish. As long as the Warmistress return is unconfirmed, Ponyville is our priority." Applejack smiled contently at that, but the unicorn didn't notice. "We must take back their advantage before anything. Applejack, Rainbow Dash," she said, looking at the the two Horsetartes. "How are things concretely?"

"Yeah about that... I've gotta call back my pilots. Flying is fun and all, but we're pretty much useless. We can't see anything, even with our auspice and thermal vision. And the communication's shitty at best," she grumbled.

"The reports keep coming," the earth warpony added. "Thanks to Pinkie Pie and Rainbow, we have secured a good defensive perimeter. You and Fluttershy have successfully evacuated most of the population. We were planning on getting them cultists out of hiding but -" she hesitated a moment before finally cursing "- I swear this darn darkness is helping them. I lost several good ponies out there."

"I think so too." Twilight hesitated a moment before saying the words. "There's something unnatural with this obscurity. I mean, more that just the fact the perturbation hide the sun. There is something in it. Something malevolent. I think -" She hesitated again. "- I think it feeds of death and suffering." Twilight had thought hard about it since Pinkie had mentioned the need for blood and souls. It was almost obvious that the darkness was somehow linked to the phenomenon. If Pinkie was correct, killing the cultists would only fuel the phenomenon further and capturing them would be way too dangerous not to mention hardly feasible. If they wanted to dislodge the enemy from this world, getting rid of this shadow was paramount. "I think we need to find a way to get rid of before we fight the cultist."

The Spacemares look at her with gravity then nodded one after the other.

"That make our course of action even more difficult," Rarity chimed in.

"We cannot let those moon worshippers bleed us like that any longer. We need to hit them hard at once," Applejack intervened.

"Yeah but without aerial support, it's gonna be a butchery for both sides."

One after the other, the warmares of Ponyville started to elaborate plans to bait and eliminate the enemy before another pointed out its flaws and proposed another plan.

 _So we've all come to the same conclusion,_ Twilight thought. The situation was objectively pretty bad. The enemy had the initiative, the preparation and superior means. As long as they did not commit to a full assault, the Dulce Pomum barracks were their strongest piece on the board, but Spacemares and warp magic was a close match.

"No sign of Spacemares?" Twilight enquired, cutting short to the strategic dispute.

"None so far..." Applejack started.

"But they are here." Fluttershy stated.

"I'm with Flutter here," Pinkie Pie chimed in. "I've seen none of them, but I think they're somehow directing the cultists."

"What make you say that?" the golden warrior asked, more curious than unbelieving.

"I sense it," Fluttershy explained cryptically. "The mark of fallen sisters is everywhere."

"Yeah... also, they evaded most of my traps, except those I made extra devious. It's as if somepony had told them about half of my surprise in advance. I mean, _rude_."

The information spiralled in her head, colliding to create new ideas for her to save this world. Distractedly, she turned toward Rainbow Dash and Rarity. "Okay, so we have to get rid of the darkness and root them out. How do we go to PV... to the Everfree after that?"

"I'm afraid this will be equally hard, Equustode," the techmare evaluated.

"Yeah, even if we found a vessel still able to lift off, I'm pretty sure the Bats will not let us get out of here. And even if they did, they would probably follow us to the Element, then blast us off. Two words: bad idea," she concluded, making a "X" with her arms.

"I hear you, but let's suppose we could get out of the planet and somehow manage not to be followed, how can we reach the Everfree?"

"Any vessel would do, but ideally, a warp capable ship would bring us here in a matter of minutes, rather than hours or days, not mentioning the added bonus of not being followed and destroyed during the travel." Rarity thought a moment about the reality of warp travel and the very presence of a miniature warp cataclysm in the system. "Forget I said anything. It is almost equally dangerous."

"Do we have any warp capable ships?"

"Well apart from your vessel, I suppose we have whatever remains of the Dusk squadron," she informed, glancing at the pegasus.

"We lost two ships to the phenomenon. Two others are not responding. Of the remaining ones, one left the system and the last one is on the other side of the planet."

A path, a link between those elements started to form in her mind. There was a way to achieve all this. It would not be easy; in truth, it would be increasingly hard, and there would be several critical point that could jeopardize the whole operation; but it was worth a shot. "What happened to the starport?" she asked.

"A moment," Rarity answered. She stood motionless for a few seconds, her eyes unblinking, her expression unfocused. She came back to her sense roughly five seconds later. "A fire started two hours and twenty minutes after the beginning of the cosmic perturbation," she informed. "The probability of an active act of sabotage is overwhelming, but the damages are likely minor. There was not any more notable activity in that sector after that."

"Just fire? No gunshots or anything?"

The techmare gathered more data before answering. "No indication of anything of the sort... If I may enquire, why do you wish to know about it?"

"Because," Twilight said, as she started to draw on the holomap, "I've got a plan."

  

 

* * *

 

 

**Southern quarter of Ponyville, eight hours later**

Careful planning had made way for the chaos of battle. Disorienting flashes of light illuminated the battlefield. Even benefiting from her retinal display and her gene-crafted perks, Applejack struggled to make sense of the situation. As if the smoke, dust and ashes were not enough, something in the darkness hindered the electronics and dulled the senses to the point of even her suffered from it. She pitied the regular soldiers who had to face the enemy in these odds. Still, they were trained for it. _She_ had trained them for it.

Her communicator came alive, spitting more static than words.

"Do you... -ceive... go through?"

"I hear you. Identification soldier."

"Fourth here..." Static drowned the communication for a few seconds. Applejack cursed at the device. "... in position Sergeant, but we require... -port."

Fourth was lead by Strudel but the voice was clearly not his, which was not good sign. Yet, despite the static and distortion, the voice was familiar. It took her a few seconds to identify and a few more to remember the name. Bumpkin. Private Bumpkin.

"What's your situation Bumpkin?"

More static answered her. It took a few seconds for the voice to pierce it."... -press mane... repeat, auspice dead... chain of comm-... broken. Probably surrounded... support."

"Got you Bumpkin. Gather the troop and get to cover. Keep contact."

She repeated the message two more times, making sure most of her orders came through. She analysed the flow of battle. All things considered, the fight was going well. Rainbow Dash reports told her that the perimeter would soon be secured. The losses were on the acceptable side given the circumstances.

Applejack didn't have to think about it for long. A few orders were given and her troops started to move as one coordinated mass. She could not see it, but she could feel it through her other senses, feel it in the small changes in the battlefields. The thunder of battle would grow distant, closer or fall silent altogether like a storm orchestra, buildings would crumble in rapid succession, vehicles would deliver their steady flow of death or retrieve ponies... The combat zone was shifting. Her trap was forming. All it needed was an extra push to make sure her preys would fall for it. She activated her communicator once more.

"Equustode, can you assist me?"

 

 

**~o~**

 

The communicator crackled back into silence. Twilight's eidetic memory was already working on the best road to reach her new destination. To fight with a purpose had dissipated the useless thoughts that had clouded her mind so far. She had a goal, now. She had an enemy to fight, objectives to reach, defend or destroy, ponies to lead and protect. It was enough to give her focus. For now, at least.

They'd fought in the southern quarter of town for hours now. Twilight had gone from herd of soldier to herd of soldier assisting them and turning defeats into victories. Considering Applejack's superior knowledge of the terrain and forces, Twilight had temporary placed herself under her command. The Spacemare had made a great use of her capacities so far, complementing the mortal forces in the most efficient way possible. After two brilliantly lead skirmishes, Twilight had decided to follow the flow. The Equustode ran into the supernatural darkness, meticulously avoiding the enemy forces. In the distance, she could heard the fighting getting more intense. She would be into position soon now. For the umpteenth times in a few hour, she and the Spacemares had shaped the battlefield to their liking. She was no longer carried by the events, she was part of the moving force. Yet a nagging thought still plagued her mind: it was still not enough.

The warrior in gold got into position. Thanks to the gunshots and fire, she could get a visual of the situation. The soldiers had found refuge in the ruins of an old building. Twilight wondered for a second what it had been before the fights but let it go. Whether it was the remnant of a luxurious manor or the last standing walls of a shop ultimately didn't matter as long as it provided cover. The guards were completely surrounded and outnumbered four to one, but still fought. Twilight smiled at the display. Those small ponies had shown an impressive amount of courage and dedication in the time they've fought together. However there were odds even bravery would not win. It was a matter of time before the enemy gave assault. In fact, they could have attacked for a long time now, if not for their nonsensical prayers and rituals.

 _Heresy is the root of its own demise,_ Twilight mentally quoted.

Teleportation had always been an invaluable battle tool, for obvious reasons, but it was not without restrictions. In addition to the fact that it was mostly limited to unicorn - and only those gifted enough to learn the correct spells - it was very sensitive and needed a relatively controlled environment. The messier the battlefield, the more dangerous the teleportation. History was riddled with tales of soldiers who injured themselves, died, or worse, for using it at the wrong time. Even after the development of artificial teleportation, it was rarely used amongst regular forces. Twilight had the prudent confidence born of decades of trials, errors and survival. So far, the obscurity had made long distance jump too unsafe to be considered. But now... she was close enough.

The purple light illuminated the darkness and the screams of the heretic took a very different inclination. Soon the whole place was aware of the new force in presence. The entrenched soldiers started to notice too. The sight of the golden warrior lifted their moral and rekindled their fighting spirit. The name of the Empress echoed in the darkness.

"Twilight Sparkle to Fourth, do you receive?" she tried as she cut a traitor in half.

The answer came loud and clear, as though the shadows lacked the strength to hijack the signal at such a close distance. "Lady Twilight Sparkle, we hear you."

"Get ready to evacuate."

"Understood, my Lady" the soldier answered. "What about you?"

"I am going to open the way. Then I'm going to clean up the filth."

"Good hunt, Lady Twilight."

She cut the communication and got to work. She carved a way into the cultist, cutting and splicing, splitting the group in two, forcing them to make way.

"Now!" she ordered.

The soldiers charged, all weapons firing. Already weakened by the harassing attacks of the warmare, the cultists and traitors had no other solution that giving way, or be trampled, shot, fall prey to the Equustode's blade or any, painful, combination of the three. In the end, it took less than a minute for the ponies to leave the area and less than two to get out of the reach of their assailants. Deprived of their goal, fighting a superior and elusive opponent, the cultists started to remember the value of their own life. Notions of cohesion shattered. Twilight frowned. This made her job harder. As if answering her thought, Rainbow Dash's voice came alive in her communicator.

"Lead them toward the big road on your right."

She didn't lose time asking why. Slowly but surely, she oriented them, and just as the paleo-sheep of old Canterlot, they followed the path chosen for them. They ran blindly, not noticing the increasing amount of buildings still intact surrounding them, nor the increasing number of their own being lead in the same road. They fled the purple light and the golden death it brought, fleeing into the narrowing path in front of them. The road became more and more crowded, those who slowed where forced into compliance or trampled by their "comrades". Rather kill a former friend than facing the Equustode behind. They ran and didn't notice anything until the buildings around them exploded.

Fire, rockrete and metal hit them from everywhere. Among those who survived the initial shock, most of them were crushed to death, either by the rest of the debris, by the other victims or by the lucky one who were still able to run. Several dozens of ponies had entered the jaw of the trap. Less than twenty survived. Those who had been saved by their lack of speed died quickly by the blade of the gold-clad unicorn. The other, at the other side of the rubble kept running, disoriented and deafened. They never even heard the thunderous rumble of a heavy bolter firing at them.

 

 

**~o~**

 

Applejack was reloading her weapon when Twilight flashed at her sight.

"Thank you kindly for your assistance, Equustode."

"Thank me when we've won," the unicorn retorted, more abruptly than she wanted.

"That I'll do," the Spacemare answered calmly, putting her weapon at her side.

The two genetically engineered ponies stayed silent. In the distance, the incessant brouhaha of fighting was slowly fading. This battle was their win, but it was clearly not enough for the unicorn. Twilight bit her lips in frustration. "Excuse me," she finally conceded. "All this waiting frustrates me. That was masterfully executed Sergeant."

Applejack smiled and nodded. "No apologies needed." She started to trot toward the position taken by the rescued guardsponies. Twilight followed her without a word. "T'is a matter of minutes now," she tried to reassure the Equustode. "Rarity's working on it. You've seen her work, she's not the kind to slack."

"I know," Twilight sighed after a time. "I just wish we could just do something more decisive."

"We are Equustode. You can't catch the ice Wyrm before you laid the trap."

She knew that well enough. But the void looming above her head and the darkness wrapping the battlefield were getting on her nerves. She wanted to do more. Only Rarity's work prevented her from doing so. She had no sooner finished the thought that the Techmare voice was on her communicator.

"My work is... -ost done. You can safely... to the next phase... the plan."

"Acknowledged. Thanks Rarity."

"Only... -ing my part, Equustode."

Twilight turned toward Applejack, the hint of a grin on her face. "Give the order. We're going to the next phase."

 

 

**~o~**

 

The barracks had seen heavy activity in the past hours. Troops had been prepared for a sortie and half of the transports available had been refuelled. Some of them had been loaded under the supervision of the Spacemares. Their cargo had been kept a secret, which had fuelled many speculations. Some said it was Mayor Mare and the high notables of the planet, fleeing the battles. Other argued that it must have been some kind of weapon to bring the traitors down. Some whispered that the vehicles were in fact filled with secret documents the Equustode was here to retrieve.

The cohort had left the barrack in neat order. Several hundred of ponies had walked in tight formation, flanking the heavily protected vehicles. The regular steps of the soldiers coupled with the roaring of the engines had echoed in the ruins like the growl of an ancient, awakening beast. It had sent tremors through the ground, making the most fragile constructs crumble into further ruination. The heavy weapons mounted both atop of them and on their sides scanned the obscurity with zeal. There were no target in sight. The cultists had crawled back into the shadows. For now.

As they reached the checkpoints, the army grew stronger, like the mythical beasts of legends feeding off defensive posts and growing as much, adding more gun, ponies and equipment to the mix. When it reached its penultimate stop, it was at least a thousand ponies strong and counted thirty-one vehicles. While still a fraction of the forces in presence on the planet, it was by far the most important troop movement so far on both side of the conflict. Yet despite such a display of force, nopony really felt reassured. There was an ominous feeling in the air. Something big was coming. Something big and nasty, hidden in the obscurity.

 

 

**~o~**

 

Cloudsdale was almost empty. The entirety of its fighters and bombers had left the structure leaving only a skeleton crew to manoeuvre the flying fortress. The objective of the mission had not been revealed, not even to the pilots. The only instruction had been to "fly high" anf "be ready". They didn't mind. Rainbow Dash had already forced them to work with less than that. So they flew high and stood ready. The darkness bellow and around them stole any chance to see the fights, let alone participate in them. But nonetheless, they obeyed.

Rainbow Dash would jump from plane to plane, sometimes leaving the formation to dive closer to the ground and give precious informations to the other Spacemares but rarely to fight. She had accepted her role as a scout without complaining. Much. The need of the many outweighed her personal preferences. But she, and the pilots of Cloudsdale were ready. The Equustode had prepared something big, and the enemy would likely react violently to it. And when it would happen, they would be ready.

 

 

**~o~**

 

As she waited for the incoming troops, Twilight looked at the starport with something akin to nostalgia. It was a big cylinder of plasteel overlooking the town its imposing height. It was a simple thing for Ponyville never had had need for a dense starship traffic. Apart from the regular exportation of food to the rest of the sector and the occasional resupply or impromptu visitor, the planet was almost devoid of traffic. This had lead official to drastic savings. This had been a stroke of luck, for the fires had quickly starved out, due to laughable stocks of prometheum. It felt as if it had been years since she left her ship to be greeted by the planetary governess. It almost looked like it too. She wondered how much of this could have been prevented if she'd only been more aware. Pinkie Pie's voice brought her back to reality.

"They're here, Equustode."

"Good."

Twilight was slowly progressing inside the building while the soldiers made the position defensible and cleaned the rumble to permit easy access. From time to time, she would spot Pinkie Pie, marking the place and searching for flaws in the building for later use. Twilight tried not to pry to much into it, she knew how effective the pink warmare was, that was enough.

With an apprehensive sigh, Twilight penetrated the higher levels in search for the remains of the _Spes Reliquus_.

The ship was still here albeit darken by grime and burn marks. At first glance, it was almost intact. The fire, explosions and debris had damaged the hull it seemed superficial.

_So far, so good._

She came closer, wary of ambushes. She activated the opening system from afar, using her magic instead of her hoof. The door hiccuped several times before opening completely. A monotonous voice greeted her, through the vox system.

"You are on the Property of Equustode Twilight Sparkle of Canterlot. Identify yourself."

"Equustode Twilight Sparkle of Canterlot," she answered, before delivering the series of numbers and letters forming her identification code, for good measure.

"Welcome back Mistress Twilight Sparkle," said the servitor, at last getting into view.

He bowed deeply toward her as she passed him and she nodded briefly at the lobotomised pony in response, before going deeper inside. He followed her at a respectful distance, awaiting instructions.

"Summarize what happened after I left, in chronological order, grouped by priority, leave the trivial."

The servitor stayed silent a moment. Twilight could almost feel his brain organising the events to fit the demands. "First. Departure of Lady Equustode Twilight Sparkle. Second. Incendiary events taking place into the spaceport, shutting down of ventilation systems to prevent damages, death of three servitors due to malfunctions and lack of oxygen, superficial damages on the hull, activation of defensive protocols. Third. End of incendiary event, reactivation of ventilation systems. Fourth. Return of Lady Equustode Twilight Sparkle," he enumerated.

Twilight nodded again. "Send the word to the other servitors to gather, then I want you to give a precise damage report to techmare Rarity of the Iron Hooves. Consider her, as well as Fluttershy of the Blood Alicorns, Applejack of the Space Timberwolves, Rainbow Dash of the Raven Guards and Pinkie Pie of the Death Spectre as authority figures. Their orders priority is to be the higher beside very own."

"I comply, Lady Twilight."

Rarity and Fluttershy came in a few minutes later. The juggernaut carried a the heart of one of the town generator, under the supervision of the techmare. The piece was half as big as the entombed warrior. They were followed by a procession of DPs, carrying diverse equipment and salvages from the city. The soldiers watched the feat of strength in respectful awe, still unsure about what was happening or how this would prove relevant to their survival.

The servitor made their assessment to Rarity and, as they'd hoped, the damages had been superficial. All the vitals were operational.

"Perfect," Rarity let out with a satisfied smile.

"How much time will you need to complete your work?" Twilight inquired.

"Primary estimation : one hundred and eighty-seven minutes given complete concentration," she whispered, her mind already on the task.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Time is malleable. And the perception of time even more so. In the unnatural night, for the soldiers standing guard, it stretched out infinitely. Training and the threat of death were pretty good incentives to be vigilant, but time... time destroyed worlds. The warmares were immune to such things, but they knew mortals were not. The first hour had been busy enough to trump this feeling. Putting in place barricades; driving the heavy carriers into defensive position, creating a wall of guns and metal between the soldier and Ponyville night; tend to the injured, many of which could not be sent back to the barracks... it had made waiting bearable. Now things had settled. Now, a relative sense of security had fallen on them. And this was when mistakes happen.

They came, shrouded in darkness, crawling silently toward the soldiers. They reached the tanks forming the outer layers of the defence, weapon drawn. They were ready to strike. They died just as silently as they had arrived, in a burst of purple light.

"Brace yourself!" Applejack ordered, snapping everyone to attention. "They're coming."

As a cue they came into view, hundreds of ragged ponies, popping out of the shadows from all side, way closer to the defender that they should have, like spawned from the very obscurity. The soldiers immediately opened fire. For a time, it stopped the tide of shadowy figures, but just as the waves of a rising tide, the cultist always came back. Stronger, faster... closer. The controlled barrage soon gave way to non stop uncoordinated, almost desperate automatic fire. The heretics could not and would not be stopped. Time stretched out. Seconds became hours, minutes became eternities. There was a moment of eerie pause as both groups faced each other, close enough to touch but still locked in one-sided massacre. And then, all Tartarus broke loose. Enraged ponies hit the rampart with the force of a tsunami. The climbed the vehicles, killing the ponies standing on them, rendining their weapons useless, topling them even, crushing the soldiers they were supposed to protect. All pretence of order disappeared, drown in a savage melee. Blades, knifes spiked hoof irons and bayonets collided. The defenders had training and iron walls on their side, fanatical force drove the cultists, and each one that bit the dust was instantly replace by a fresh, screaming one. This was not a battle the DP Battalion could win, it was only a matter of time. Slowly but surely, the loyalist forces were losing ground.

"How much longer, Rarity?" Twilight pried.

"Everytime you ask the question, Equustode, I have to reallocate precious resources to answer," the techmare retorted, before shutting the communication off.

"What?"

"She's telling you to let her work in peace, Equustode," Applejack scolded. "I told you : she knows what she's doing."

"I know, but this fight is everything we didn't want in the first place."

Rarity's channel opened for a brief moment, long enough for the unicorn to deliver her message. "I'm sending Fluttershy your way," the unicorn informed. "Prepare the retreat in exactly nine minutes."

"Thank the Empress."

"Allow me to join the fray," Fluttershy vox-murmured.

"Our battles are yours, Sugarcube," the earth warmare answered. "Especially the left flank if you catch my drift."

"I'll do my best."

The cohesion and morale of the defender was slowly eroding as waves after waves of heretics came crashing against them, taking more and more of them each times.

Hope appeared, entombed in heavy adamantium plates. The Dreadnought broke the line of defender like a blade leaving its scabbard, and in her wake ponies felt the light of the Empress shining above them once again. By the time she reached the heretics, the soldiers fought with renewed vigour. "For the Empress," said a calm and soft, vox amplified voice, "keep the line. This planet needs you." Fluttershy became the bulwark protecting the soldier where the battle was the thickest, crushing any enemy daring to come too close.

Faith returned, flashing in the the midst of the enemy, silent and deadly, clad in golden armours and rightful hatred. Not as limited as Fluttershy in term of mobility, Twilight struck everywhere the defence was about to crumble, giving time for the defence to regroup and regain cohesion. Every time the purple light hit them, the attackers would recoil in fear and the defenders cheer.

Retribution came, in a thunderous staccato, as Applejack completed her sisters work, with furious voley of bolter rounds, carving holes in the attackers, driving them back.

For a time, the loyalist contained the attack. Then the Bats appeared. And things went from bad to worse.

In a sickening echo of Fluttershy's arrival, they enticed screams of fanatical joy, praises and prayers to the perverse entities of the Warp. There were a squadful of them. In night blue power armour, wearing skulls of fallen champion among other sinister trophies and slowly progressing toward the barricade. In their wake, the traitors gathered, aggregated, growing into a critical mass.

"Pinkamena, if you're here, that would be a pretty good time to take them down."

"Already on it, Equustode" the ambush planner answered.

The shot pierced the night. Something red and sinister pulsed instantly. A nearby cultist got caught in a carmine magical grip. The bullet penetrated the body, getting through half of his length. The pony died a painful and too slow death as his nervous system saturated his brain with pain. The unfortunate meat shield bled to death, spasming and sobbing pathetically, still trapped in the red veil. The leader of the Bat _smiled_ at the defender. It was impossible to discern her feature from such a distance, especially in such concealing darkness, especially hidden behind so many cultists, but everypony could somehow feel her amusement at the futile attempt.

"Damn! She's good!" the sniper whistled.

"Ready yourself! They're-" Twilight shouted.

The rest of her sentence was never to be heard. There was only the shriek. It was a focused, deafening thing, coming from mouths that was no longer equine and amplified dozens of times by vox systems. It was a vocalised weapon that shook the bones and rattled the mind. The Bats shrieked, for what sounded like hours. Then as suddenly as they started, they stopped. Silence fell on the battlefield as the Spacemare advanced, surrounded by their endless waves of cannon fodders, not anymore a uncontrolled attack, destined to submerge the defender from all side, but a focused and driven assault. Meanwhile, the loyalist's infantry suffered the aftermath of deafness. Their struggle was greater than ever. Even the Spacemares could barely contain all the troops coming their way. Applejack tried to focus her fire on the advance of the renegades, but the unicorn that lead them pulled cultists after cultists, using their body as protection until their carcass were too worn out to serve. Then, she'd pick out another one or two.

The Bats steadily advance, unfazed by the surrounding carnage or the explosive round raining on them. The more they advanced, the more cultists crashed on the barricades. Even Fluttershy and Twilight did little to qualm the endless tides. Soon the renegade leader was close enough for everypony to contemplate her feature. She was a massive unicorn, even for Spacemares standard, in fact she was almost two head taller than Twilight and stood out of the throng of cultist like a rock above rough waters. She didn't wear any helmet, as if daring the followers of the Empress to hit her. Under the weak illumination of her magic made her purple coat as dark as wine, while it gave her short, red mane the colour of coagulated blood. Her power armour was decorated with crude depictions of her battle prowesses and five skulls, two of them clearly Horsetartes', dangled at the end of metal chains.

She looked down on everpony. She opened her vox once again. This time no shriek came out of it. It was calm and powerful voice, but beautiful in a sense. The voice of a cruel ruler very conscious of its own authority.

"Soldiers of this pathetic world," she said, taking nonchalantly another cultist as a meat shield, "today, we claim back this world for the Warmistress. Submit -" two beautifully crafted power axes flew on both sides of the mare. "- and die."

Neither Twilight, nor Applejack, not even Pinkie Pie noticed what was happening in time. Maybe had the darkness grown too thick for even the Spacemares to pierce. Maybe it was the after effect of the shriek that had distracted them. In any way, the followers of the Warmistress had successfully drawn all attention to them and the loyalists simply did not notice the gunners surrounding their position. When they did the grenades and rockets were already flying. Barricade, ponies and vehicles exploded in an mesh of flesh, rock and metal.

The defence crumbled in seconds. Applejack did the only thing she could do : call the retreat. The DP soldiers did not need to be asked twice. They fled inside the building as fast as possible, haunted by the Bats mocking laugh.

 

 

**~o~**

 

Rainbow Dash had lost contact with the other for a few minutes now. Only statics and occasional death throes pierced the communication obscurity, which, she had to admit, was not very reassuring. However, given the sensitive nature of her task, _waiting out of all blasted things_ , she had to hold on, far away from the action. This was getting really hard to keep up with. Then the Shriek pierced her vox, forcing her to shut it off, and she saw the explosion bellow her. The lack of answer killed whatever remained of her patience.

After yet another failed attempt to join her sisters or the Equustode, she decided that she had had enough and switched to her second's frequency. "Ivory, I need you."

"Why do I feel like it won't be as pleasant as it sounds?" her second in command answered immediately.

"Take your mind out of the gutter. How low can you dive again?"

"How low do you need me to dive?"

"I want to see what's bellow."

"I can do that.  However, I must point out that it's suicidal," the pilot deadpanned.

"Stop complaining and be ready to plunge." She opened the channel for her whole unit. "Everypony, be ready. I sense that things will get even more interesting than we thought. And don't get killed. First one to die owes me one hundred wing pushups." There was a short pause. "That goes for you too, Ivory."

"Damnit."

 

 

**~o~**

 

There wasn't two ways of saying this. Things were not going great. Out of the thousand ponies that had reached the starport, barely six hundred were still alive, and all of them were retreating from the fight toward the _Spes Reliquus_. And if Pinkie didn't do anything about it, this number would go way lower in a matter of minutes. So in the unnatural night she ran, shadow stepping in midst of the enemy, sliding through the smallest interstice in their attention. By the time their senses register her presence, she was already gone, no more than the shadow of a memory. "Pinkie Pie, cut the flow of cultists." the Equustode had ordered. Silly Equustode... She'd been at it from the start!

So Pinkie ran, looking for the soldiers that had caused this fiasco. She didn't have to look for them long. They preyed on the verge of the horde of cultists, carefully  advancing, directing the cultists but never getting involved. The pink warmare was about to change that. They were too numerous for her to deal with right now. But she would not have to. She only needed a few of them. She quickly spotted exactly what she was looking for: a small group of traitor DPs, standing apart from the rest. Pinkie unsheathed her combat blade, took several pieces adhesive band and rushed in. The first one she didn't kill. She merely knocked him off and secured him for later use. He fell silently on the ground like a silly drunk pony. The other laughed at the clumsy pony without a care in the world. Why would they feel threaten? There was an army between them and the enemy. Such a mistake cost them their life. The dagger sliced with the efficiency of a surgeon, silencing the traitors, definitively.

Pinkie checked quickly around her. No alert. She was still in the clear. As quickly as she could, she gathered the material she needed from the enemy equipment. Grenades and explosive.

"This should do the trick... Now let's spice things up a little!"

The strong smell of prometheum made the pony regain his senses.  He woke up with a metallic taste in the mouth and his jaw locked in a very painful position. It took him a few seconds to understand that he had, in fact, something inside his muzzle. Something like a heavy metallic ball. He tried to spit it out, but something was maintaining his muzzle shut. With fumbling hooves he tried to remove it. It took him a few tries, but after the third, he found a corner where to pull. After the fifth, he actually managed to get rid of the thing. With effort, he finally spat the invading object. It took him a few seconds to identify the unpinned grenade. Had he been in a state of mind permitting such a thinking, he would had realised that with the three-ish seconds he still had, he could have thrown it and have a chance at survival. But the stallion was not in such a state of mind. The only and last thing he did with the few last seconds of his life, was screaming.

Whole sections of the entrance exploded. Already weakened by the fires, several supporting beams collapsed, taking the rooms above with them trapping whole sections of ponies, making passages unusable or unsafe... In a matter of minutes a dam was formed, containing the steady flow of heretics and protecting the retreat of the Ponyville forces.

"It's done Equustode."

 

 

**~o~**

 

Given the circumstances, the DP battalion was remarkably organised. Twilight couldn't help but be admiring of those small ponies, fighting their best in such overwhelming odds and still keeping enough cohesion to defend their life as an army. Whether it was due to Applejack's training or personal virtue of the inhabitants of this planet, it was still something deserving of praises. Little by little, a defensive circle took form around the _Spes Reliquus_. The Timberwolf, and he autocannon of the ship that still functioned, sprayed bullets on the miscreants that came into range.

"Rarity, I hope you're finished soon, or else you'll have a way bigger interruption than us complaining!" Applejack growled as she reloaded her weapon. But she knew perfectly well that they still had five long minutes to endure before the unicorn would be finished with her device. Long enough for the Bats to arrive and wreak havoc. Long enough the cultist to surround them and start a massacre. "I wouldn't say no to a little stroke of luck about right now."

"Somepony asked for a miracle?" came a voice from above. "Don't worry, your friendly Spacemare Rainbow Dash is here!"

A colourful meteor fell in the thickest of the fray, sending them flying and tumbling afar, quickly followed by the punitive fire of a Marauder bomber. Screams of pain mixed with cheers of joy erupted, to the great pleasure of Rainbow Dash.

"We didn't not expect you so soon..." Fluttershy stated, not even commenting on the pegasus bombastic entrance. "Not that we mind."

"Yeah I had a feeling you'd need a little help," she answered matter-of-factly while joining the fray.

"Just admit that you were too bored to wait," the orange mare taunted.

"Okay, also that."

"And not single word of appreciation for the driver..." came the voice of the white stallion in her communicator.

"Well done Ivory, you're not too lame."

"I'll take it," the pilot sighed as he low-passes above the cultists once again.  

This was just the advantage they needed.

 

 

**~o~**

 

So far inside the ship, Rarity could not hear the fights, but the vibration that transferred through the hull were enough for her to get an idea on what happened. It didn't take a genius to understand that the situation was even more urgent than previously assessed. Rarity was not as cold as her attitude let on. She knew very well that the ponies outside were giving their life for her to finish her work, and it infuriated her to no end. Her very work was to make sure as many ponies survived. Her very work was to make sure the fight would be one sided and in their favour. She could not keep up like this. Too many lives were lost due to her flaws.

She quickly checked her work so far. The Field was almost operational for what they intended. She could probably make it work now if she ignored safety protocols. It would put the machine spirit under undeserved stress. This was clearly converse to her vows. Unless she actively soothed it and tended its wounds on the fly.

 _Probability of success : 67.3%. Totally unacceptable._ She judged. _If I ignore the security protocol and go beyond the recommended optimum usage for my own equipment, I should see positive results._ The recalculated her odds with those new parametres. _Probability of success : 82.4% and logarithmical increase through time. This... this is acceptable._

Rarity stopped for a (very inefficient) second. Her mechanical limbs got into position.

"Okay Rarity, you can do it," the Iron Hoof let out in a very equine moment.

 

 

**~o~**

 

The low thrum took everyone by surprise. Some even stopped fighting as the noise became stronger. They could not see the Geller Field activate, but they could see its effect on the world around them. Slowly, the darkness receded, evaporated even, leaving only tendrils of black smokes. It recoiled, creating a safe bubble surrounded by smoke-like blackness. The cultists hesitated. Free from the unnatural veil, the soldiers fought with renewed vigour. But this was only the beginning.

Rainbow Dash had waited hours for this moment. The moment when she'd unleash death from the sky.

"Cloudsdale! Time to kill those bastards!"

Death came from the sky.

So far supernatural obscurity and guerilla warfare had deprived Ponyville of its cohesion and air superiority. Now that the enemy was deprived of both advantage it would suffer the rage of Cloudsdale.

"Renegade of the Luna's Bats," Twilight screamed at the face of the enemy. "Today, we send you back to the void, you and your damn mistress!"

And they proceeded to do just that. Without the foul magic, without the security it provided them, with DP once again able to operate as a united army, with the air support once again on their side... victory was just a matter of time. Not even the renegade Spacemares could overturn it. And they didn't. Ironically, it was Cloudsdale's forces who did.

In the coming decades the crash would haunt Rainbow, forever wondering if she'd leave a faithful pilot to die by negligence or worse... if she'd let a traitor live in their midst to steal the victory from them. She'd never see the Spacemare teleporting inside the plane. She'd never hear the pilot final gurgles of warning. She'd never see the Spacemare direct the ship and teleport back. She'd only see the bomber go lower and lower in collision course with the _Spes Reliquus_ , she'd only hear the screams of panic of the ponies getting crushed by it. She'd only see the crash.

Time stood still as the field hiccuped, flashed then dissolved into nothingness. The darkness came back with a vengeance, like an hungry beast too long denied from its feast. Twilight could feel it, crawling on her fur. It was more than just a deprivation of the senses... She knew it now. It was aware, alive and vicious in intent. Screams erupted left and right, so close and yet too far for her to see what was about. She struggled in the tenebrosity, her vox rendered useless by the fool presence. It lasted a few (seconds? minutes? hours? She wasn't sure anymore...) before it stopped.

It didn't do it softly like a breeze slowly dying or abruptly with the force of an explosion. It just vanished, in a literal blink of an eye. But in its stead, was not the day Ponyville so sorely wished, nor even the natural warm night of the summer solstice. In its stead came a the cold obscurity of a planet deprived of its sun. Twilight instinctively looked above, as did almost all the ponies around her. More than natural curiosity, they all felt the pull coming from above, that strange pressure, that imperious impulse to watch and see.

Gone was the phenomenon. Something else was standing where it was. Something equally alien to the sky of this world. Something that had no place here.

A dark, cold moon now ornamented the sky of Ponyville and its very presence radiated cold malevolence, like the glare of an old pagan goddess.

Twilight's attention snapped back as something big moved toward her.

"You were saying, empress bitch?" the leader of the Luna's Bats squad smirked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "You carry the Emperor's will as your torch, with it destroy the shadows."  
> \- Verses of Sigismount, Book CIV, Verse I
> 
> "Chaos is devious, subtle... The way of shadows."  
> \- Inquisitor Silas Hoof


	16. Part II - Chapter 10 - The Last Barrier II

**Orbit of PV-01  
** **_Last Barrier_ , storage room**

First, Twilight felt the pull.

It was way more powerful than her own teleportation magic. It took over her whole body at once, in every direction yet none as if every fibre of her being was being stretched and compressed at the same time. Reality faded around her and she felt a deep wave of disappointment as her blade sliced through the Bat without doing any damage. Their eyes locked for a second then everything turned to black and the _Spes Reliquus_ disappeared in a literal blink of an eye. For an endless instant, reality lost its consistency, logic ceased to apply, forms and masses became abstract... and then, the moment passed. The narrow, illuminated hallways of her ship were no more. She was now standing in a wide room - an airlock? an empty storage? - bathed in a dim, flickering, reddish light.  

"Did it work?" she asked, breaking the oppressive silence.

It took a few, worrying, seconds to Rarity to answer. "We are on the _Last Barrier_ , as planned..." she confirmed. She hesitated before continuing. "However, we are way off course. I cannot explain it." The techmare sounded genuinely puzzled. "We're in one of the storage rooms, almost half a kilometre off the signal."

"Half a- wait you mean we could have ended in space?" Rainbow Dash cried out.

"Or in the hull..." Applejack added darkly.

"It was highly unlikely, darlings," Rarity dismissed.

"How unlikely?" Fluttershy inquired softly.

"Well, there was less than eighteen percent chance than we-"

"Eighteen percent? Are you kidding me?" the cyan Ravenguard shouted again.

"We knew the risks and it was worth it," Twilight interrupted. "We have more pressing matters at hoof." She turned toward the Iron Hooves techmare. "Rarity what is the status of the ship? Can it fly? Is there any survivors?"

The Techmare shook her head. "I cannot answer satisfyingly to those enquiries. The ship looks in stable condition, and there seems to be no risk of immediate destruction," she informed. "As for the crew, there's no sign of life in the vicinities. However, I won't be able to accurately answer until I find an access point or a terminal." She checked her data stream for a second, looking for exactly that. "There is one, three sectors away, that should do the trick. It should give me all the elements needed to give you a precise assessment."

"Can't you just hack it from here or something?" Rainbow argued.

"If we want to make this ship jump through the warp without complication we're going to need every bit of advantage we can get, dear," Rarity retorted. "Vexing the machine spirit would be ill-advised."

Twilight nodded. "Fine. Let's gather everypony and get to the engines."

"A minute..." The low artificial voice of the dreadnought sounded in a private channel of the vox.

"What is it Fluttershy?" she answered in kind.

"If you don't mind, Equustode... I suggest that we make a short pause before going further. Lots of the soldiers are injured and disoriented from the teleportation."

Only then did Twilight notice the poor shape the survivors of the battalion's forces were in. Of the thousand soldiers she had taken with her, barely eighty had survived and that number would likely drop even more considering the severity of their wounds.  

"Give them a few minutes to rest," Fluttershy insisted.

Twilight hesitated for a fraction of a second. She could dismiss Fluttershy's concern. It was their duty to serve and they would follow her orders, one way or the other. A part of her mind awoke again, anxious to move and to prove her worth and efficiency, it screamed a her that they had to move out, that the fate of the whole galaxy hung in the balance. Then the moment passed. The voice shut up. She could not find a valid reason to force such a fate on the soldiers. They were exhausted and many needed some medical attention or a peaceful death. Even she needed a moment pause to check her gear and save some strength for what was coming next.

"You're right," she conceded.

"Rarity?" she asked on the general channel, "how long before they catch our trace."

"Hard to say but with the perturbation of the warp disturbance, I'd estimate twelve hours minimum if the odds play overwhelmingly in their favour. More likely it could take them days."

"Will we-" Twilight started.

"We should have well enough time to manoeuvre this ship, trust me," the Techmare interrupted her reassuringly.

"Noted. Fluttershy, I want you to check on the remaining militias. We'll rest for thirty minutes then those who can still fight optimally will come with us. You'll take care of the rest and join us when you can. Rarity will keep you up to date on our position. Everyone else gets ready to leave."

"Thank you, Equustode," Fluttershy whispered privately.

Thirty minutes. For the Horsetartes and Equustode, it would be a time of collected preparation. They had suffered superficial wounds, for their kind that is, and were already focusing their thoughts on the rest of the mission. For the remaining guards, however, it was barely enough to recover. Yet they did not complain and those who could helped the Dreadnought heal their comrades.

Twilight found the spectacle fascinating.

Dreadnoughts were incredible feats of engineering, and the level of destruction they could bring was only exceeded by the heaviest war machines, like titans. They were made for situations where finesse was no longer an option when overwhelming force was becoming a necessity. They were weapons of mass destruction, and the Furioso template, in which Fluttershy was entombed was among the deadliest of them all. She was a force to be reckoned with, and Twilight had had many occasion to see it in action but what she was watching was more impressive than her deeds in war.

Fluttershy was mending wounds. It was one thing to see her shatter bones and tear flesh. It was another entirely to see her do the exact opposite. The care and precision she was able to bring into the moves of the machine were beyond everything Twilight had ever seen or could have believed possible.

"Nice of you to give'em a pause," Applejack told her in private in her vox, "the Bats beat'em pretty hard." That was quite the euphemism.

"It was a better long-term strategy."

Twilight could feel the Timberwolf's amusement on the other side of the vox but Applejack diplomatically chose not to make any remark.

"She was the apothecary of her Squad," she said out of the blue. "You know? When she was still active with the Alicorns. Story says once she was deployed into the field, no member of her squad had the permission to die," Applejack continued. "Probably a legend though, but when I see her patch the troops, I can't help but wonder how much it is true."

Twilight had nothing to add to that.

Thirty minutes passed in a flash. By that time, Rarity had gathered and shared all the data on the ship she could put her hoof on while the pink Death Spectre, the cyan Ravenguard and the Lavender Equustode planned their course accordingly. Applejack and Fluttershy had reorganised the remaining ponies.

Only forty would follow.

"Let's go," Twilight finally declared.

Pinkamena instantly took the lead. The Equustode marvelled again at her discretion and stealth. The shadows swallowed her whole instantly and Twilight had to raise her alertness to its peak to get her position. Rainbow Dash silently went after her, followed a few metres behind by the rest of the group.

Their progress was uneventful but still nerve grating. The empty ship felt like a cemetery. There were no traces of the crew. There were marks of fighting here and there, but no remains, no victims or casualties. Only closed doors and empty hallways. It was clear that something sinister had happened, but it still eluded them, which in turn made it more worrisome.

The room was mostly intact, just as the rest of the ship. There was almost no trace of fighting here... and still nopony, alive or dead.

"Do you see anything Pinkamena?" Twilight whispered.

"Nopper," she answered in the same fashion.

"I don't like this," Applejack cursed, expressing everypony's thoughts aloud.

"Form a defensive perimeter around the terminal and stay on alert," Twilight ordered. "If there's something near, it will probably start to act as soon as we make our presence known."

 

 

**~o~**

 

 

"You think they see us?"

472 didn't answer.

"Hey, you hear me? You think they see us?" 8533 repeated.

"No they can't," 472 hissed. "Even the demon ponies couldn't."

"You think they were really demons?"

472 ignored the question again. 8533 always asked way too much question and half of them were useless. The ponies bellow had come from nowhere. At first, they had hoped they were a rescue team, but no vessel could have passed the monstrous ship outside. And even if they did, the crew would have noticed something like a ship docking in. No, this was something else. They had seemingly appeared from thin air. Just like the demon ponies. There had been enough deaths already, he didn't want to become one of them.

"You think they are demons too?"

"They might be."

"We do what now?"

472 hesitated for a moment. "We watch them and we wait," he finally decided.

 

 

**~o~**

 

 

Twilight was wary. There was definitely something sinister about the ship. It didn't help that the stinking touch of the warp was present all around. It was a faint one, but she could still feel it whenever she paid attention to it, like an annoying itch or something moving at the corner of her eyes.  She sent a glance at the other mares and was reassured to see that she was not the only one. Even Rainbow Dash showed signs of restlessness.

_Let just hope these are just lingering traces of the storm..._ Twilight thought.

"How long before you're finished, Rarity?" she queried expectantly.

"In a sense, I already am. The reason why I'm still working is because there are some readings I cannot make sense of."

"Troubles?"

"I'm not sure," the Techmare confessed, equine frustration oozing through her voice. "However, I have some good news. The ship is mostly intact. The communications are off but the rest of it appears to be functional. There is also large concentrations of ponies hidden and locked up in several parts of the ship. I think a good proportion of the crew survived, way more than the minimal amount required to navigate."

"Excellent."

"Wait, if the crew's still alive, why is the ship as dead as an ice pit?" Applejack intervened.

"..."

"Yeah!" Rainbow added. "And why didn't they try to fight? Or do anything? It's been days already."

"..."

"I'm sure we'll find answers soon enough," Twilight cut off. "Right now our focus should be to get the ship moving," she settled.

"Equustode?" the quiet vox of the dreadnought interrupted.

"Yes, Fluttershy?"

"I've found something. You should come and see."

"We're on our way. Lead the way, Pinkamena."

No answer came. They all looked around in confusion, searching for the Pink warmare, not to avail.

 

 

**~o~**

 

 

Pinkamena Diane Pie sliced through the shadows like a fish in the water. She had heard the call of her friends in her vox but she ignored them. Apparently, the ship was calm and they'd likely not need her at the moment.

She had something way more interesting to do right now.

There was someone or something spying on them. She had felt it and her senses never lied.  Things or people were hidden nearby and that meant that she had to seek them out.

Nobody hides from Pinkie Pie.

 

 

**~o~**

 

 

Fluttershy was, according to Rarity's data, in a living area of the ship, next to one of the pockets of crewponies still alive. The place was merely a few sectors away but the need for answers, the closed security doors and the oppressive atmosphere stretched time to maddening lengths. What they found, however, was worth it.

Fluttershy stood next to one of the several doors that separated the locked up ship. Except this one had been blown up. The metal at its centre had been literally vaporised and the rest had melted due to intense heat. There were not a lot of weapons capable of such a thing.

"Melta bombs," Twilight commented. Thi

"So the Bats have been here after all," the pegasus said.

"Did you have any doubt about it?" Applejack asked.

"Not really."

"There's more inside," Fluttershy indicated. "But I am not sure of what it means..."

For all her knowledge, Twilight couldn't either. One thing was sure, the room was not fit for living anymore. The furniture laid broken at the corners like toys thrown aside by giant, angry children but, more worrying was the new decoration. The floor had been torn apart, leaving sharp and threatening stalagmites of metal rising everywhere.  It was a trypophobic nightmare that defied everything Twilight had seen. This was not the result of a deflagration... it was like something had come from the bellows of the ship and tore the floor open. Without a word, Rainbow Dash flew over it. She came back quickly with a grim look on her face.

"I know what it is," she spat with disgusted anger. "It's a torture pit."

The name was explicit enough. "Are you sure?" Applejack asked.

"Positive. It is way... cleaner than the ones I dealt with but yeah there's no mistaking it."

"But why construct such a... barbaric device just to expose it?" Rarity wondered. "Is it a threat?"

"Believe me, it's been used."

"How can you tell?" the Techmare probed.

"Come on, even you can feel it. This place smells like death."

The Daughter of Medusa didn't answer, for, as inelegant, nonsensical and subjective this answer was, it resonated with some part of her, still mortal, core.

The place _did_ smell like death.

"But then, where are the bodies?" Fluttershy wondered.

"I am more worried about the ponies still alive," Twilight responded. "Rarity do you still have their vitals?"

"Affirmative, Equustode."

"Then let's find them out. We need answers and we need this ship moving as soon as possible."

 

As almost all the doors they had met so far, the final door to the crew was closed. However, contrarily to those, this one refused to open to Rarity's touch.

"The... the ruffians!" she screamed in indignation. "They sabotaged the opening system."

"Is it me, or she wasn't that mad for the melted door?"

"That's not the same thing! This will require us to replace the entire system, not just the door! And I'll have to appease, reroute, reconnect and _re_ appease the Machine Spirit! They could have done things properly, just disconnect the system but no, they had to be savages about it..."

Twilight let the Techmare rant and looked around, still gathering clues about what happened. There were traps all around. Most of them were crude and more threatening than really effective. It was the messed up job of someone who did not know what they were doing but who were rushed by time and circumstances.

_Probably the work of the crew,_ she deducted.

A sound interrupted her thoughts. It was faint and the constant growling of the metal beast entrails covered it well, but it was there. Twilight looked around inconspicuously. The other Spacemares seemed to have noticed too. Rarity's rant was still going on but Twilight could see that her mechanical limbs were not working on the machine anymore. Applejack was checking her weapon carelessly but was using this pretence to look attentively around. Same went for Rainbow Dash, hovering lazily above the ground but who was carefully circling their perimetre.  Only Fluttershy, in her heavy adamantium tomb, looked unaware, but Twilight didn't doubt that she was on alert too.

They all heard it. The heartbeats.

"Equustode?" Rainbow Dash called calmly and quietly on the vox, where the potential foes could not hear them.

"Yes, I've heard them too."

"There's at least twelve on our left flank," informed Applejack.

"And twice as many on the left on the right," completed Rarity.

"I hear thirty-six heartbeats in total," Twilight informed.

"They're not Bats."

No, they weren't. Those were single-hearted, erratic, frightened heartbeats... Those were ponies' heartbeats. Ponies who were about to make a mistake.

"What should we do, Equustode?" Fluttershy asked with apprehension.

"We give them a warning and if they don't answer correctly, they'll face consequences," she decided. She calmly got in front of the door, between the two ambushed groups and shouted, loudly and clearly to the hidden ponies. "I am Twilight Sparkle, Custodian in the service of the Empress. If you're one of Her loyal citizens, you have nothing to fear from us."

"Le's hope they're reaso-" Fluttershy muttered.

Several warcries erupted from the walls. Ponies came out from secret openings, charging without cohesion.    

"So much for that..." the cyan pegasus commented.

"For the Empress!" Twilight screamed before charging into the fray.

 

 

**~o~**

 

 

"Hey, you think demons call the Empress too?" 8533 asked.

472 hit him on the back of his head. "Don't be stupid! Demons hate the Empress. She protects the faithful from them."

"Oh... But if they call her name, then they are not Demons right?"

8533 said nothing. Were these ponies soldiers of the Empress? Their leader had called herself a Custodian. Was it some kind of rank?

In the end, it didn't matter, 472 decided. He had to get the hell out of here and warn the rest of the of the block that new ponies had arrived. Fortunately, he knew how to get in and out of his hideout without being seen. He had to-

A massive, heavy leg went over his shoulder. This was not 8533's leg. He swallowed nervously.

"Found you~" said a playful voice from behind him.

Then the room started to move extremely fast.

 

 

**~o~**

 

 

The fight had been brief and one-sided. The assailants had been civilians, poorly armed, facing warmares and veteran soldiers in higher numbers. Even if they could have kept the element of surprise, they'd have lost and yet... they had fought to the death, despite the attempts of capturing them alive or make them surrender. They'd rather end their own life than getting caught. Such desperation had shocked even Twilight.

Rainbow Dash landed next to her, her black armour painted with fresh red.

"That was weird..." she commented.

"These ponies were no cultists," noted Applejack.

"No," Rarity concurred, lifting a body with one of her servos. Under the filth and the crude cloth armour they were wearing, the uniform of the maintenance crew and their matriculate could clearly be seen.

"They were fighting to protect themselves, not to further the Warmistress's plans."

"What could make them act like that?" asked Fluttershy.

"I have no idea... but I know some ponies who might!" an elusive pink Spacemare shouted, emerging from the shadows.

All weapons turned toward her in an instant. She didn't seem to mind.

"Pinkie?" Twilight let out, lowering her staff.

"That's me!"

"Where have you been?" the warmare from Canterlot asked.

_More importantly, when did you leave?_ she thought, still trying to figure out the moment when the Spacemare had disappeared.

"Oh! I found out that some ponies were spying on us, and you wanted some answers so I thought to myself 'Pinkie! The Equustode seems really confused about what's happening right now, wouldn't it be great if we had a good way of finding just that?' and then I realised I could kill two bird with one bullet, which is hard but no _that_ hard you know? So I went to catch the spying spies and bring them back to you and now I realise I forgot to tell you that beforehoof..." she finished with a hoof under her chin.

Before any of the warmares could utter a word, she unceremoniously let the ponies on her back to the ground. They fell on top of each other with painful, muted gasps. "Those two were playing hide and seek and look! I won!"    

The two ponies were unicorns, young, but old enough to do their part. Considering the last time the ship had had to refill its crew, they were either born on it or they'd lied about their age to get on board.

The first one was a tall and slim stallion with an orange fur, a green mane and a peaceful, almost vacant expression. His uniform was a simple work attire, one size too big for him and sporting the number 8533. The other was his polar opposite. Physically, he was small and chubby with green fur and orange mane. His attitude was also quite different. While crewpony 8533 was calmly accepting his fate, 472 looked incredibly nervous, desperately looking left and right, trying to find a way to escape from his captors. Contrary to the precedent crewponies however, they did not look like the fighting type nor the suicidal type.

"Identify yourself," Twilight ordered.

"I am crewpony 8533 and he's crewpony 472," the taller said.

"Don't tell them that!" Crewpony 472 chastised him.

"You know that lying to Spacemares is a punishable offence?"

"Sp-Spacemares?" 472 stuttered.

"Well duh!" Pinkie laughed. "Big mares in armours, in service of the Empress, protect ponykind, kill bad guys... I thought it was obvious."

"Wow... Spacemares..." 8533 let out. "Hey! They're not demons! They're heroes!"

"You do not have to be afraid. We're here to help." Fluttershy told them with her most soothing tone.

Help was there. The Spacemares were there... All those prayers in the dark without answers and now... help was there. Tears of relief ran freely on 472's cheeks now.

"What happened to this ship?"

 

 

**~o~**

 

 

"They came from nowhere... like you," 472 started. "We didn't see them coming. There was no ships, no explosions, no nothing. We were working as usual and just like that we're attacked. It was chaos. There were screamings in the vox, we had no idea what was going on... Everypony was panicking. 27 told me to get to Com' to see what was going on. I took 8533 with me and ran. I think that's what saved us, cause the doors closed right behind us... We heard ponies bang at them... but they're solid you know? Made to resist explosions and stuff. Not something you can open with your hooves.

We didn't get what was happening. Me and 8533 were in a corridor, with our crew banging at the door behind us, so we... we hid... We didn't want to disobey 27 but here was no way to get to Com'!" he justified. "We went in the vents, most ponies can't but I'm small for my age and 8533 is slim, so it's no problem for us. 27 don't... didn't... like it when we went inside them, but she sometimes send ponies inside to look for problems in the machines so we went there. And we waited. I don't know how long. I think it didn't take long."

472 took a pause. He swallowed several times and breathed deeply. After a minute or two, he continued his story.

"The vox opened up again. I was sure it was the captain telling us it was over, that things would be normal again... but that wasn't her. It was another voice. A deep voice, not the voice of a pony...It was more like yours, deeper, more powerful but... it had no emotion. It was as if it was talking to itself.. as if we were not even there as if we were insects for it! It spoke to us through the vox and I'll never forget its words..."

472 recited the words without emotion, but in his mind, they were echoing with a way more sinister impact.

"Pathetic ponies, we are the Luna's Bats. We are the warriors whose blood was shed so the weaklings, the undeserving ants in pony shape that you are could live a relatively peaceful life. We are passing a judgement upon you. For your adhesion to the crumbling ruin you call Imperium, for blindingly following the imposter whorse you call Empress, for serving in her military, you are all guilty. The sentence is death. The first one to pay for your sins will be your captain."

472 stopped again. Tears started to coat his fur, but he didn't even seem to realise.

"For... for an hour, they... they... killed... her," he let out painfully.

"I-I counted..." 8533 added, his face losing its passive façade.

"I've never heard something like... like that... The s-screams... they never stopped. You know, once a crewmare got caught between two gears. There was nothing to do... She screamed until someone finally gave her peace. That gave me nightmares for weeks... but... that... that was way worse! I-I can still hear her when I'm awake when I close my eyes... when there's no sound... this is not leaving my head! She was dying and screaming for a whole hour. I don't know how somepony can scream like that and never stop! They cut her again and again! Th-they... they were telling every detail so we _knew_ what they were doing and she knew what they were going to do to her too! It...it was horrible! I thought things could not get worse... But I was so wrong..."

He paused once again. One of the soldiers came next to him and offered him something to drink. He barely registered the gesture, drinking by reflex.

"They cut off the vox when she died... We didn't move. We stayed in the vent... we couldn't move, we couldn't decide on what to do. They left us for hours. It-it's hard to evaluate time without the lights, see? 8533 told me they let us four hours. I trust him. He's good with time. After the pause, the vox opened again. We didn't know what would happen. They had already told us they wanted to kill us dead, things could not go much wronger, right?  And there was hundreds if not thousands of soldiers in the ship! They could not defeat them all! I was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. That's when thing got really bad.

"We saw everything from the vent. They called it 'the purge'. We know cause me and 8533 heard them call it that. They told us how they would kill us in the vox. Twice a day, they'd open a sector and kill everyone inside save for a few... then, they'd torture them and make us listen. After that, they'd make a pause and go to the next."

There was a moment of dead silence. The use of the torture pit became clear. The attack had started days ago... how many ponies had died like that?

"It was Tartarus... Everyone was trapped in tiny sections of the ships, never knowing if they'd be the next. Some tried to fight. They were exterminated. Some tried to surrender... those suffered the most. Their screams... there's no way a pony can scream like that..." the crewpony repeated. "We saw everything but they didn't see us. I don't know how long it last..."

"Five days, two hours, twenty-two minutes," 8533 informed.

"But then..." 472 continued, unphased, "they disappeared. Like they'd arrived... they didn't leave, they didn't flee.. just... pop! nopony's here! Even their victims were gone! There were no traces! No blood, no bones, no dead nothing! It was like awakening from a nightmare... except those who died in the nightmare are gone for real."

The pony paused one last time, facing the Spacemares and DPs around him.

"It's been hours now but most of the crew refuse to move. They either hide or are locked into their area. Me and 8533 we are scouting around cause we can escape them. Nopony else dare."

 

 

**~o~**

 

 

They had listened to the tale in silence. They knew of the brutality of the Bats, they had experienced it first-hoof but even then, there were something chilling in the tale. This was the way of the Enemy. This was the way of those who had one point in time helped building the Imperium... The mere thought was sickening. And their Primare'ch was free to roam the galaxy once again. This was the future under the Warmistress's reign.

"You were very brave," Fluttershy commented. "You did a great service to the Empress by spying on Her enemy. "You can rest now. We will take care of things now."

Twilight nodded her approval. "Before you go, I have one last question."

"How can I help my Lady?"

"Do you know what happened to the navigator?"

"I don't know..."

"Think about it, please," Fluttershy insisted. "It is very important."

"I don't think he's dead..." 472 said hesitantly. "They didn't purge him I think..."

"The didn't come close to his quarters that's for sure."

"Navigators are prized," Rarity declared "I doubt even such... ruffians would eliminate them unless absolutely necessary."

"We still have to check on him and make sure they're alright," Twilight declared. "We can do without him, but things will be way easier if they're still alive."

"Indeed," Applejack approved.

The other Spacemares answered in kind.

    

 

__________

 

 

Thirteen hours had passed. The ship was now at alive again despite some internal fights still raging in some zones of the vessel. The _Last Barrier_ was ready to go. At last.

The command room was desperately empty. At the exception of the mindless servitors, making sure that the ship was still running, Twilight and Applejack were alone. The rest of the Ponyvillian force were either gathering the remaining of the crew, healing the injured or making sure that the damages caused by the Bats were not too bothersome, leaving only the Equustode and the Devastator on the deck.

They were working in silence, the current operation not needing any command from any of them and their efficiency making so none of them had to check on the work of the other. It was another pause without the inevitable maelstrom that would inevitably hit them. A quiet time that made Twilight thoughtful. A question, pointless but persistent nagged her.

"Applejack?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes, Equustode?"

"Why do you all keep calling me by my title?"

The timberwolf turned toward the unicorn, an eyebrow inquisitively raised.

"I do not mind you doing so, I'm merely curious."

"We simply thought you preferred to be called that way... I apologise if we offended you."

_Why would I be offended?_ she thought. The first words she had exchanged with the Wolf came back to her mind. _Oh. That's why._

"You didn't. I appreciate the concern." There was a short pause. Twilight spoke again. "You can call me Twilight," she said. "It's more efficient that way, fewer syllables." she quickly justified.

"I will... Twilight."

Twilight could not see the face of the of the earth warmare but she was sure there was a smile on it.

"Everything is ready," Applejack reported after a time.

"Good," she acknowledged. "Give the signal to the crew."

"Before I do, do you mind if I speak my mind freely?"

Twilight stopped staring at her map to face the Sargent. "Of course."

"I think you should address the ponies of the ship. For better of worse, you're our pack leader. They count on your guidance. Maybe a quick word would give them hope."

"This is not my cup of tea. I think you're better suited..."

"I may be better suited, but you _are_ our leader. This carries weight. You must be more than what you are. You must be what we all need." She put her hoof softly on her shoulder. "Be our leader, Twilight."

Twilight simply nodded.

"Do you still want me to give the signal?"

"That won't be necessary," she smirked.

Twilight watched the holomap one more time. The Extereri was too far to stop them and its course led it the opposite way. By the time they'd turn to intercept them, they'd be long gone. The Warp was calm and the course clear.

_Come on Twilight, if you can't do that, what hope do you have against the Warmistress?_ she chastised herself.

"Ponies of the Last Barrier, soldiers of the Dulce Pomum. Today, we are the bearers of the light of the Empress in the darkest of night. Today, we _are_ the last barrier against heresy and treason. Today, we fight back against the invaders. We are the Last Barrier," she repeated, "and we'll stand proud." She took a deep breath. "Push the Motors at optimal power. Navigator, stand ready for a jump to the Everfree."

 

 

__________

 

 

The _Last Barrier_ awoke from its slumber. Its engines roared dispelling the cold embrace that had seized them. Soon the metal beast was running at full speed travelling, once again, the void it had been made to conquer. Energy gathered along its hull as the Warp drives flared to life. Space tore itself once more above PV-01.

The _Last Barrier_ had entered its last warp travel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Please forgive me the horror we both know you will make me put you through."  
> \- Azhek Aripony
> 
> "Your shrines will burn, your streets run with blood, your false idols shattered, your people slaughtered by the thousands, your very planet torn apart… and the barest fraction of my hatred will be satisfied."  
> \- Ba'ar Zul the Hate-Bound


End file.
